Spectacular
by megamatt09
Summary: Who knew that a simple Spider Bite can change a person's outlook on life? Harry/Gwen/Multi.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One:**

* * *

><p>Lily Evans-Potter sat in the midst of the sitting room at Godric's Hallow. After what she learned, she was in abject shock. The bombshell dropped down upon her head turned her entire world upside down. It seemed absurd on the surface but there was a lot about magic that there was.<p>

There was a prophecy. Normally that wouldn't even faze her. This time the prophecy did. It dealt with the current Dark Lord that terrorized them for the past decade or more. Dumbledore told them that it had to deal with someone who would defeat him. Things had been narrowed down to two potential candidates.

That's what Dumbledore told her anyway.

'_If Dumbledore believes it and Voldemort believes it,' _Lily thought to herself. Mentally she trailed off and that thought disappeared into the distant.

James returned from seeing Dumbledore off. He looked about as worn out as Lily did.

"So, this has been quite the night, hasn't it?" James asked. He hoped to break the tension. "So, what do you think?"

"I don't know," Lily said.

"It's either us or the Longbottoms," James told his wife. "Dumbledore thinks that it might be more likely to be us."

Lily arched her eyebrow. "Did he tell you why?"

Lily blew her red hair out from underneath her face. This could prove to be a bit of a nightmare.

"He figured that it was the case," James said. His wife's penetrating glare locked onto him caused James to slide back. "He didn't seem fit to give a reason. Dumbledore's been playing his cards closely. You know he feels that there's a spy in the Order."

Lily knew that theory and wondered if Dumbledore had any ideas. There were a lot of rumors about certain people thanks to their nature. Moody in particular was checking and double checking people whenever they walked into headquarters.

She would feel a lot better if the Order actually accomplished anything. Every day more of their members dropped like flies. A couple of Death Eaters got caught but they were among the lowest priority ones for him. No one he would lose sleep over was captured. They might as well be wearing red shirts as far as Lily was concerned.

"So, he's not going to tell us anything," Lily said, frowning.

She didn't like that. Dealing with Dumbledore outside of being that Headmaster that you saw at meal times was a far more taxing experience.

"My parents and grandparents knew Dumbledore for years, I think that we can trust him," James answered.

"I hope so," Lily commented in her most brisk tone. "So, he thought of the Fidelius Charm….."

"Yes, I think that it might work," James said. "And I'm sure that Sirius will be happy to be the Secret Keeper."

"I'm sure he will," Lily said. She had a question in her mind. "But, why couldn't one of us be a Secret Keeper?"

"Dumbledore thinks that if the scope is extended outside of the house, we will be able to be protected easily," James said to his wife. He lightly rested his hand on the side of her leg.

"Hmm," Lily said and that was all that she said. "I see."

The charm was relatively obscure and she only saw it a couple of times in passing. She wanted to research it before she entrusted her son's safety with it.

"So, Dumbledore is coming back tomorrow and if I can get in touch with Sirius…"

"We should flee the country while we have the chance," Lily said. She was so sudden and blunt that she caught James off guard.

James looked at his wife like she grew two heads. "I beg your pardon?"

"We should get out of the country while we have the chance," Lily repeated herself. She spoke in a clear voice. There could be absolutely no mistake.

James looked like he thought his wife was insane for even suggesting such a thing. "You do realize that the Ministry is passing that law where any magic user couldn't leave the country, don't you?"

"Yes, I realize that," Lily replied. "But the Wizengamot is not having a meeting until next week."

"Yes, I know," James said. As the Head of House Potter, he had a seat where he had to sit the meetings. It was normally fifteen of the most boring hours of his life and then they didn't get anything accomplished. It was always come back tomorrow. "I don't think that fleeing is going to solve anything."

"We can get out of here to the United States," Lily persisted and James looked at her. Lily wasn't done yet. "Voldemort wouldn't dare attack over there. He hasn't even expanded his scope much further into Europe. And with the Sorcerer Supreme over there…."

"You think that this Sorcerer Supreme is more powerful than Dumbledore is!" James snapped back.

Lily didn't even hesitate to respond. "Yes."

"I'm not leaving my home," James said to her firmly.

Lily couldn't even begin to process how someone could be this stubborn.

"Our son is in danger, you'd think…."

"It might not even be my son, it might be the Longbottoms," James said. He sounded flustered and almost hopeful that it was someone other than his heir.

"I thought you said that Dumbledore knew that it might be Harry for sure."

"It could be, but it couldn't be," James said, his face contorted and looked really strained at the moment. Snapping his hands back, he calmed his nerves.

He did not want to get into an argument with his wife because he wouldn't win.

"The Potters have been here since Camelot, it would be a break of tradition for us to leave now," James said. He sounded bold and pompous. The only thing left to do was to puff out his chest. "We fought countless dark lords and never once ran."

"And how many of you have died fighting said dark lords?" Lily asked.

James stammered and stared at that wife. "That's…I need to go out and talk to Sirius about this entire Fidelius Charm thingy…just…..I'll talk to you later."

James did what he always did when he knew when he was about to lose an argument. He fled the room, potentially to the nearest pub.

Lily sighed, she already knew that the law prohibited Muggleborns from leaving the country, without a pureblood chaperone. It was one of the more blatant cases of Ministry corruption imaginable. A law she considered breaking.

Her son's safety was most important thing to her and she was sure James would agree if he ever removed his head from up Albus Dumbledore's arse.

Walking over to the book shelf, Lily reached onto it and grabbed a book charmed to be disguised as a cookbook.

There should be something in here that would help her.

* * *

><p>Much later that night, Lily pretty much had everything that she needed in her hands. The daring next step was to actually enact the ritual. The tome she stashed in disguise as a harmless looking cookbook recommended that this should not be done. It was only included for educational purposes.<p>

Lily snorted, that was a good way to cover their collective rears from liability.

That being said, Lily was on the telephone and waiting for someone to answer. Despite the fact that it was not a reasonable time over here, it should be a reasonable time over there. This was in case she buggered her math something fierce when calculating the time zones.

The sleepy voice responded to Lily. "Hello?"

"May, it's been a long time," Lily said. She was really glad to hear her older cousin's voice.

May Parker and Lily Potter were cousins, and May was older than her by a slight bit. Their mother's were twin sisters. The woman's mother moved to the States after World War II to marry her husband, a GI, and then they had May.

"We have a situation," Lily said.

The phone was the only sacred method of communication here. It was pretty secure, and she could relay information to people without the use of owls, Floo, or any other methods that can be used for discussion. Lily thanked her stars for most wizards being tech illiterate and thus unable to trace the information.

"No one's hurt are they?" May asked in concern.

"No, but they could be soon," Lily said and she sighed. "Things are getting extremely dangerous over there. I mentioned about the terrorist that is causing problems. He's gained a fair bit of follows who are disillusioned by the government and certain types of people."

"I know," May said.

"Sorry if I sound so cryptic, but you can never be too careful," Lily said. "I'm not taking any chances."

"What's the problem?" May asked, getting down to the point. She never heard her cousin sound so alarmed and that was alarming to her.

Lily sighed. "The problem is that Albus Dumbledore came to our house and told us that Voldemort found out about a prophecy. He didn't really give us the details about it beyond that, you know for security reasons."

May frowned over the phone. "What did he tell you?"

"That one of two boys fit the qualifications to the prophecy," Lily said.

"You don't seem like the type to believe something like that," May said. She always saw Lily to be practical and someone to call BS when she heard it.

Lily waved off that question and sighed. "The problem is I don't, but these things have an uncanny knack of becoming real because other people believe them. That's the true magic of magic. The thing is that Harry is one of the two boys and Dumbledore seems to think that he's the most likely one to go after."

An owl came back at this moment and Lily took it.

"James and Sirius are going on a mission and won't be back until next Saturday," Lily read to herself and she perked up. "That's actually perfect."

Finally something worked out to her favor. The note didn't contain that much more information other than that. James mentioned that they would perform it after they got back.

"That does seem odd that's happening after everything that's gone down," May interjected over the phone and Lily nodded.

"Very odd, given that I could easily take Harry and run," Lily said.

"Will you?"

"I should," Lily admitted. She really struggled to figure out why she shouldn't. "But, I can't at the same time. I've got an idea that could work. I might not survive this war though, so I need you to take custody of Harry in the event that something happens to me."

Lily knew that Sirius was his godfather and she was sure that Sirius would take care of him. The problem was that Lily almost didn't see Sirius surviving the war. He took the fight to Death Eaters which was good. He took in more damage than they did which wasn't really so good.

"We'll meet in the Heathrow Airport in a week's time," Lily said. "If that's fine with you."

"Its fine," May agreed. She had another concern though "Are you sure that people won't find out that you're there and won't try and stop you?"

"I'll manage, I've got a few tricks up my sleeve," Lily said swiftly. "I'll tell you more then. I've got to go."

"Good bye Lily," May said with regret. She realized that the next time she saw her cousin it might be the last.

Lily Evans-Potter put down the phone and cleared her thoughts. She could do this ritual and it would be dangerous.

Could it end the war though? Could it put down Voldemort for good? Could it fulfill the prophecy?

So many questions and so little time, and Lily took the book up to her face. It was at the point of no return.

She eased into her work room which Harry sat in the midst of a runic circle. Reaching over, Lily grabbed a knife from the table. Her hands shook but she steadied them.

All of these complex rituals needed blood and Lily needed to be strong for what she did. She leaned down and kissed her son on his forehead.

"I'm sorry, I love you."

Lily opened a small cut on Harry's hand with the magically enhanced knife. The blood dripped into the circle and glowed eerily. Harry's hand healed over seconds later.

She hated what she had to do. The deed was done and now she needed to make further arrangements.

Lily walked over and picked up a two way mirror. James and Sirius once used something like this to communication when in separate detentions. She made more for purposes of communicating with people that she didn't want Dumbledore, her husband, or the Order to know that she communicated with.

"It's me."

* * *

><p>Lily arrived at Heathrow Airport. She was pretty sure that someone tailed her, but she gave them the slip. Whether or not it was Death Eaters or Order, or just a coincidence, she didn't know. All that she knew was that someone tried to stop her from getting here.<p>

She made it though, with Harry in tow. James would return tomorrow, at least he was scheduled to return tomorrow. Then they would perform the Fidelius Charm. Dumbledore sent her an owl reminding her of that point. He also informed her that it would be unwise to leave this hose in these times.

Lily snorted at the thought of that. Dumbledore thought that he had authority regarding her movements like she was back at Hogwarts.

She waited for the plane to touch down and for May to arrive. She clutched baby Harry against her, he slept through that entire adventure.

'_He gets it from me, I swear,' _Lily thought. She clutched the papers in her hand and allowed them to dangle from her hand.

The plane touched down and Lily waited.

Seconds later, Lily spotted May. Her red hair was tied back in a clip, and she dressed in a long coat, and heavy pants for the cooler weather that Great Britain had. Lily smiled and waved the woman over.

May rushed over to Lily and swept her into a hug.

"It's been too long," May whispered to her and she smiled. Harry was asleep. "Are you sure that you want to do this?"

"I told you that I didn't know if I'm going to live for much longer," Lily said. The strength this twenty one year old woman had was scary and pretty terrifying.

The fact she stared sudden death in the eye was nothing short of inspiring.

"I hope that you live for years longer," May said firmly.

Lily gave a grim smile. "No one ever looks to die; I think that it's an obvious possibility though after everything that has happened in this war and how the idiots who are in charge in the light intend to send us to an early grave."

Lily paused and noticed that May made the trip alone.

"Ben couldn't make it, could he?" Lily asked.

May shook her head. "He's been putting in a lot of hours at the factory, he couldn't get time off. His wage honestly doesn't fit his output and work sometimes. We manage."

"I'm sure that you do," Lily said. Ben Parker was someone who made a lot of sacrifices, perhaps way too many to be honest. "But, you know that if I have to send Harry to you, you never have to worry about anything again?"

"I figured that you would arrange something," May said.

"I have my own investments that are making enough money, I didn't want to be dependent on the Potter family gold," Lily informed May. "Or my inheritance that my parents gave me and Rose."

That was a hard Christmas, her parents died in a car accident. The official word of the police said that it was a car accident anyway. Lily suspected a more sinister hand was involved but she couldn't prove it.

"How is Rose?"

"She'll be taking her NEWTs this year," Lily informed May with a smile. "I'm hoping that we can hold out for another nine months until she's finished, and she'll be able to stand by and help out where she can. Especially when it comes to Harry's training when he comes of age."

It would be a cold day in hell before any child of hers ever stepped foot in Hogwarts. He could get his OWLs and NEWTs or the equivalent of them just as easy with magical tutors. She also wanted him to have an education that he could actually use in the real world. Lily worked herself to the bone during the summer time and took courses in business management and accounting, among other subjects. She racked up several doctorates.

"She's doing well in school, then?" May asked and Lily nodded in confirmation.

"Very well."

May decided to address the other Evans sister. "What about Petunia?"

"She's been disowned, and I haven't spoken to her in two years," Lily said evasively. "She married Dursley, against my parent's wishes."

"They approved your marriage to James?"

"Yes," Lily said. She didn't really know why her parents hated Dursley so much. There must have been some sort of drama that she wasn't privy to. She never asked. Lily knew better.

That didn't help the strain relationship she had with her sister to begin with. Petunia was a spiteful jealous witch, an irony given that her head would explode if she would be called that word.

"I just don't like to talk about it," Lily said, and she got out the papers. A hell of a storm was brewing. She held Harry stead against her, who slept through the thunder claps.

She cherished these moments because they could be among her last.

"Please sign this, this should make his adoption legal and iron clad," Lily said and May nodded.

If her plan worked, no one would even know Harry left England. Everyone was settled with the goblins. James signed over power of attorney to his vaults to Lily because he couldn't be bothered to deal with the goblins.

The goblins shut up if they shoved enough gold underneath their noses.

"It's done, thank you."

This might be the last time both of them got a chance to speak with each other. It would be time for them to make the most of it with each other.

"Dumbledore is going to be there tomorrow when Sirius and James come back, they're going to perform the Fidelius charm," Lily said.

May frowned in response at Lily. "You sound like you don't approve?"

"I trust Sirius," Lily answered and she shrugged. "But if he gets himself captured, the right kind of magic could rip the secret out of his mind."

Sirius planned on going into hiding soon enough. If that would stick and if he would stay out of trouble, Lily didn't even know. She'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Lily didn't see any signs of anyone, so she must have ditched whoever was following her. If there was anyone who was following her in the first place, that was. Voldemort alternated between wanting to kill her and James and recruit them.

"I wonder what I got myself into sometimes when I agreed to go to Hogwarts and that world," Lily said with a smile. "I hope for the best for Harry."

May smiled at the adoring look that Lily gave her sleeping son. "Being your son, he's going to be nothing but."

Lily wanted to visit her parents one last time and their old home. She offered it to May to stay when she was in the country.

They could spend the next several hours catching up there and then it was off to see the wizard.

* * *

><p>Halloween 1981 approached and Lily rushed her way up the stairs at the sound of the doors breaking open.<p>

This was the night she waited for and the night that she feared. She wondered how James hoped to hold Voldemort off without his wand.

The thump of his body down on the ground indicated that James didn't fair too well. She quickened her footsteps, Harry cradled into her arms. The bedroom door swung open and Lily rushed in there about as fast as her legs could carry him.

She felt like she was on spheghetti legs when she tried to hold herself up to her feet.

Voldemort approached her like a villain out of a slasher film. She didn't see his face. It might have been almost worse if it did. The ground cracked underneath his feet when he approached her.

"Stand aside."

The sacrifice must be willing for it to work.

"No, not Harry, take me instead."

Voldemort's voice was cold and indifferent. "Stand aside you silly girl."

Lily glared at Voldemort with determination. If her mind hadn't been so busy processing everything, she may have figured out that there was a reason that Voldemort told her to stand aside.

"No, not Harry, take me!"

Voldemort didn't seem willing to ask her the third time. Lily stared him down with defiance, not even blinking. She felt the warming embrace of death approach her. The redhead saw the tip of green light appear on the wand.

The light shot out and nailed Lily in the chest and knocked her over.

She thumped down onto the ground, never know the warmth of life again.

Voldemort's gaze shifted towards the child. It cried for its mother.

"You will join her soon."

Voldemort lifted his hand in the air and the green light illuminated from the tip of his wand. The blast of the Killing Curse fired at Harry Potter.

The greatest sacrifice he needed to make his final Horcrux would happen tonight.

The spell absorbed into Harry, and his magic shot out like a spider web. Destructive and untamed magic fired out in every single direction.

Voldemort couldn't brace himself long enough. It was magic beyond everything that he ever saw in his life.

The backlash destroyed his body along with his soul. The entire cottage went up in flames and every single magical user in the path of the blast suddenly collapsed.

Anyone connected with Voldemort suffered symptoms of an extremely deadly magical flu. Some of them would recover, at the cost of the ability to perform magic without immense pain. Many of them didn't even have that luxury. They would be dead by the time a week passed.

Dead or a squib, most of those blood purists would pick dead given the choice.

Harry Potter disappeared from Great Britain. As far as they knew, he died on that night. Something happened to cause Voldemort and his supporters to fall.

Only the goblins were the wiser and they sure as hell weren't saying anything.

* * *

><p>Eight years passed since Halloween night. It seemed as if Harry Potter was regulated to a footnote in history. The tragedy allowing the death of the Dark Lord, the one that they refused to even name.<p>

If one actually looked, they would realize that Harry Potter was alive and well. Only the name was a bit differently. Harry Evans-Parker or Harry Parker for the sake of simplicity was alive and well. The nine year old child walked home from school besides his mother, May, and a nice crisp wind picked up.

It was almost eight years to the day that Harry arrived on Halloween night. The world turned around on that day. Harry was raised by Ben and May Parker, with his aunt Rose from England popping in for generous visits every few weeks although there were times where she was tied up on business.

Harry understood that better than anyone else. The young man's green eyes shined bright, he wore a nice shirt and a pair of jeans. His hair was unruly, sticking up. His forehead was without a blemish on it.

"We should get home, Harry," May said. She didn't have to worry about Harry getting his homework done before dinner. He had it done a lot of times before he even got home from school because he was that resourceful at using every moment of time.

He worked efficiently which was something that many children his age struggled with a tiny bit. That caused May to smile wide and wide pride.

May saw a familiar car in the middle of the driveway and she wondered what her husband's brother could be doing here. She knew that they left due to their work on trips every now and again.

She helped herself inside and Harry followed her inside.

"Hello Aunt May," a young six year old boy said with a shy little smile.

"Peter, it's good to see you, you've grown since the last time I've see you," May said and she pulled her nephew into a sweeping hug.

Ben Parker stuck his head outside of the kitchen and looked fairly amused. The man cleared his throat and May turned towards him.

"Right, I'll leave you two boys to catch up," May said and she swept into the kitchen. She dropped her handbag down onto the chair.

Harry turned to Peter. "How's school?"

"I'm really glad that I started," Peter said with a smile on his face.

"Did you make any friends?" Harry asked his younger cousin.

"Well, a couple of them, I think," Peter said and he stared at the ground briefly. "I don't really know a lot of them, Mom and Dad just moved into town a few months ago. It took a while to get everything set up."

"It can be difficult to start over," Harry said. He was glad that he didn't really remember much of his old life. His birth mother was the most vivid of his memories. Everything else was a blank. "You'll find people that share what you like, I think."

Peter nodded; Harry always seemed so much older than he was, the couple of times that he met him. Then again, to some, Peter wondered if he seemed a bit older. Harry blew him away regardless.

"I don't know why Mom and Dad are talking to yours," Peter whispered.

"Could be about anything," Harry said. He didn't really mean to pry. Curiosity was not a sin, if it was, Harry would have already been punished because of his an extremely long time ago. "I'm sure that there's a good reason why they're here."

"I thank you for doing this, we don't want to uproot Peter yet again, especially after he's been settled down," Richard Parker said.

"And it's not a trip that we should take a six year old boy," Mary Parker said.

"Not a problem at all, we always have room for family here," Ben said, leaving no room for argument. "You shouldn't worry about that, Peter will be in good hands."

"So, did you get bumped up another grade again?" Peter asked Harry.

"The teachers seem to think that I'll be in high school before my tenth birthday and graduated from college by the time I'm a teenager," Harry said.

Some of the teachers tried their best to slow Harry down. He thought that it was because they made them look bad. A lot of the teachers weren't exactly that good. A lot of what Harry knew was mostly self-taught.

"Peter, I need to talk to you for a minute," his mother said.

Peter jumped to his feet. "Yes, Mom, what is it?"

"We have to go away for a long time," Mary said and Peter looked at her. He didn't speak to his mother just that. "It isn't long, we'll be back before you know it."

"Oh, that's good," Peter said. He was used to his parents having to go away. Some of the time he went with them. Most times he didn't go with them.

"Yes, we'll be back, trust us," Richard said with a warm smile and he patted Peter on the head. "You be good for your Aunt and Uncle."

Peter crossed his arms and he stared at them. He nodded in response. His parents hugged him and he enjoyed the moment because this was the last time that he would see them for an extremely long time.

"We'll get in touch as soon as we can," Mary said and she turned to May and Ben.

The four made their outside to the front porch to talk about something away from young and prying ears.

"So, I guess that I'm staying here for a while," Peter said to him.

Harry nodded and May leaned inside the door. "Harry, could you please show Peter where he's sleeping?"

"Right, Mom," Harry said and he picked up Peter's things like they were nothing.

"How did you do that?" Peter asked. He couldn't lift that bag on his own.

"I guess that I don't know my own strength," Harry answered.

Rose theorized that his powers allowed him certain durability that most people didn't have. He led Peter up the stairs and into his room.

"Are you sure you can't stay for dinner?" Harry heard his mother say.

"No, we really should have been leaving ten minutes. You know how Osborn is."

No more was said as Peter's parents left without another word.

**To Be Continued on November 21****st****, 2014. **

* * *

><p><strong>So we start this story. The one that I didn't really hype. Unless you saw the story schedule and wondered WTF is Spectacular. Well this answers that question.<br>**

**Harry and the Wizarding World...they are never, ever, getting back together, like ever.  
><strong>

**Not much to say in this chapter, because it was technically a prologue and spoke for itself.  
><strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two.**

* * *

><p>New York bustled with activity in these early morning hours. It was a bright spring morning, getting close to the early part of the summer. The sun shined brightly and gave everyone that great feeling to be alive. There wasn't even a cloud in the sky. It was one of those days which was perfect, not too hot, not too cold, it was just the proper medium.<p>

A young man stood in the parking lot outside of a small and spacious looking café, just off of Empire State University. His long black hair was slightly unruly but it was mostly tamed. His green eyes were mostly hidden by a pair of stylish looking sunglasses. He wore a nice black shirt and a pair of matching black dress pants. Despite the fact that the clothes were slightly a bit loose for comfort reasons, one didn't have to look too hard to find out that he had a good mark.

The young man wiped a hand off of his unblemished forehead. He was close to nineteen years old. Like many young people around his age, he had a cell phone permanently grafted to his ear.

His name was Harry Evans-Parker, born Harry Potter, and he was currently on the phone with someone.

"So, how long do you think that you're going to be in Europe, Felicia?" Harry asked.

Felicia Hardy didn't mince any words in answering him. "It may be close to six months. It may be slightly longer. It depends on how my business goes."

"So, I guess the status of our relationship is going to be on hold then," Harry replied to her.

Felicia sounded solemn and Harry could almost see her in his mind's eye nodding on the other end of the phone. "Yes, but I'm not interesting in pursuing anyone else while I'm here. I don't want you to feel as if you're trapped or obligated to run anyone else by me."

Harry smiled and added. "So, we'll revisit this conversation when you get back?"

"Yes, when we get back, and when we figure out what to we want to do with us," Felicia agreed. "You're still the only man that I've ever loved who hasn't been related by blood. And obviously that's a different kind of love."

"I know that," Harry said.

The sound of Felicia clearing her head could be heard. "But…..we've never been shy about allowing other females into our bed. And given your nature, it's a matter of necessity. Not that I wouldn't mind if it wasn't. Most men don't even know what to do with one woman."

"That's true," Harry said, amusement barely breaking over his face.

"I've got to go, I'll be in touch soon as I can," Felicia said.

"Okay, bye, Felicia, I love you," Harry answered.

Felicia paused for a second. "I love you too."

Harry figured there was more to this little business trip than met the eye. Not that he was going to pry. He made a vow never to step one foot into Europe. Rose kept him apprised of the situation over there and what Harry found out was not encouraging. That world long since moved on from him, he was just assumed another tragic statistic among the many that were killed by Riddle.

Despite that fact, he didn't want to poke the sleeping dragon in the eye.

Harry entered the café with a smile on his face. The café was decked out in spring colors and was rather cozy looking. He spotted the people that he was going to meet for lunch and turned and faced them.

They were three girls, all of them were older than Harry, and went to ESU with him. Harry had graduated from high school at a young age and got into the college on a full scholarship due to his grades.

The first girl was a blonde female who wore button up blue blouse and jean shorts. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail and she had shimmering blue eyes.

"Harry, I thought for a moment that you couldn't make it," the blonde said with a smile on her face and she budged over to make a seat for Harry before another blonde can do the same.

The second blonde dressed in a white blouse, a jacket, and tight white pants. She was well endowed with bright eyes shining. She wore a pair of nice dress shoes that she dangled from her.

"Yes, we're extremely subtle, Susan," the blonde commented in a regal accent.

"Emma's just as excited to see you as well," Susan Storm said. There was a wicked grin on her face as Harry next to her and across from Emma and a third girl.

The girl woman looked extremely amused to be honest. She had long short dark hair that reached her shoulders in a cut. Her brown eyes shined brightly with warmth. She was dressed a bit more casually than the other girl and also extremely stylish. She wore a nice designer jacket and a black top, with black pants and a pair of nice boots.

"They've been at this all morning," she whispered to him. The third girl ignored the stares that she got from the other two girls. She casually took her coffee. "There's some obvious unresolved sexual tension there."

"I beg your pardon!" Emma said in outrage. The girl just smiled in response.

Harry chuckled in amusement. It was always amusing when some of the women in his life really got going in a conversation. Things could get fairly catty.

"Jan, how are you doing?" Harry asked.

"Oh, I'm good, I've got to give my presentation next week, and I'll be able to complete the final stages of work for my Doctorate in Molecular Biology," Jan said. Her voice bubbled over when she talked about her accomplishments in pure excitement. "And the newest fashion line will be ready."

"You should model for them Emma, you would enjoy the attention," Sue commented as she took a bite from her sandwich.

"And you share a similar unrefined sense of humor with your brother," Emma responded in her most brisk tone. She turned her attention towards Harry, to ignore the daggers Sue glared at her. "Did you speak to Felicia?"

"She'll be over in Europe for about the next six months," Harry said to her.

"It isn't anything bad, is there?" Susan asked. "The two of you have been together forever and well…"

Susan flushed slightly, she didn't quite know where she was going with this one.

"So, you don't know any the other particulars?" Emma asked him.

Harry frowned. That may have sunk the theory that Emma knew some details about Felicia leaving that he had not been privy for. "No, I don't."

The group discussed a few light topics for a couple of moments and ate their lunch.

"Did you hear about Tony Stark?" Jan asked.

Harry didn't hear about it. "No, what happened?"

"Well, he's missing," Susan piped up for Jan, before Emma could interject with her own knowledge on the situation. "He went overseas and he hasn't been heard back from in a week."

"Considering it's Stark, it's very likely he washes up on a beach somewhere unkempt and drunk," Emma commented dryly.

Harry looked skeptical about this fact. Tony Stark wasn't the type to just lose all contact without the outside world. He didn't know what precisely was up here.

"He'll turn up eventually," Emma added in what passed as reassurance for her. She seemed more bored than anything.

"You're all heart, you know that," Susan muttered underneath her breath.

Emma Frost was not deterred. Rather she popped on in with something else that she heard that might be of Harry's interest. "I'm sure you might have heard right now about the monster that has been terrorizing the Midwest."

"What?" Harry asked, interested in what Emma had to say.

"Indeed, he's been on a rampage," Emma continued. "No one quite knows where he came from either. Just one day he started to go on a rampage."

"Maybe he wants to be left alone," Jan said and she got her share of cross looks at the table. "Oh come on, large hulking monsters need their me time too."

"Of course, if you say so, dear," Emma said silkily.

Harry thought that there were a few interesting things happening. And it was just the tip of the iceberg.

"My business contacts say that the military is after him," Emma stated. "I'm not sure if it is to use him as a weapon or to contain him. It could go either way."

Harry decided to chew on that for a second.

"So, how is your work with Reed Richards going?" Harry asked Susan.

"Great, in the sense that it's intriguing work, not so great as in Reed enters his own little world when confronted with science," Susan told him. "I swear, I'm more of a babysitter, than an assistant most of the time."

"Is the ship ready?" Harry asked.

Susan nodded swiftly. "Yes, it is, we should be able to launch in the New Year and explore what boldly has never been explored before. This could revolutionize space travel. If Reed doesn't complicate the process too much, that is."

There was some doubt etched in Susan's eyes about that. Harry smiled and he took note of the time.

"We should do this again sometime, but I've got to be going," Harry said.

Jan frowned at him. "What's the rush?"

"I promised a friend that I'd meet her in about twenty minutes," Harry informed her and Jan nodded in understanding.

Emma gave a wicked grin and she wrapped her arms around him. She gave him a long kiss on the lips, upstaging the other two.

"Do stay in touch," Emma said. Her grin was really wicked and triumphant.

Harry smiled and decided to say goodbye to the other two. Without any other word, he made his way in the direction of the subway station.

* * *

><p>The nice spring day continued to be bright and there was no sense that those arrangements would change. It was the perfect day for anyone to be alive. You would have to be pretty down on the world.<p>

Midtown High was in Harry's line of sight when he walked after the trip that he took from the Subway Station.

"So, you don't need anything, do you, Mom?" Harry asked her.

"I don't need anything right now," May Parker said in a warm voice.

"I'll be home as soon as I can, I may be running a little late," Harry said to her. "Just to make sure that you don't worry or anything."

May waved off his protests on the other end of the phone. "Oh, I don't worry. I know that you'll find your way home. Thank you for telling me though…someone's at the door, I'll talk to you later, goodbye, love you."

"Love you too, Mom," Harry said and he concluded the phone call, having slipped inside of Midtown High and already had a pass to enter the school freely.

Not that anyone was going to deny Harry Potter any kind of access from the building. It was better to follow protocol more than anything.

No sooner than he concluded the phone call, a ballistic missile shot out of the corner of his eyes.

"Harry!"

Harry smiled as she wrapped her arms around him from behind. When she was done crushing all of the air out of him with her running glomp from behind, a bright eyed girl detached herself from Harry. Many considered her the smartest girl of her age and Harry doubted that there was a person who had any sense who would disagree.

Her blonde hair hung loosely down her back and a pair of bright blue eyes looked at him. She wore a black shirt that hugged her teenage body and a pair of jeans to match. A black headband topped off her outfit.

Harry chuckled as he came face to face with Gwendolyn Marie Stacy.

Gwen looked at him, practically babbling. "Oh, you kept your promise, I knew that you would keep your promise! Even though you didn't need to keep your promise, I mean, I know you've been busy with classes at ESU."

Harry chuckled with a smile on his face. He waited for Gwen to calm down.

"Gwen, I wouldn't miss it for the world," Harry said. No sooner did he say this, he spied a redhead and another blonde standing in the distance, both of them looked extremely amused.

The redhead wore a purple tank top that showed off her fit body. She added a pair of jean shorts to her outfit. Her name was Mary Jane Watson, and she was the girl next door to Harry. Mostly because she literally was the girl next door.

The blonde wore a black tank top and jeans, with a smile on her face.

"Harry, this is Liz Allan, I don't know if the two of you have met….." Gwen commented.

"We might have run into each other, it's good to see you again Liz," Harry said and she smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again, Harry," Liz said. She took a moment to look him up and down.

"How are you doing Mary Jane?"

"You mean since the last time you saw me," Mary Jane commented with a smile when she leaned in to properly talk to Harry. "Pretty good actually."

"I didn't know that you were swinging by here."

Harry turned around and saw a young man with corn row hair cuts, dressed in a business suit. He reached forward, and gave him a cordial headshake with a smile on his face.

Harold Osborn was waiting for his brother at the top of the stairs and noticed Harry Evans-Parker talking to Liz, Gwen, and Mary Jane. He knew Harry personally and even if he didn't, he would have felt that he would have heard more than enough about him.

"So, how are you doing?" Harry asked with a smile and he gave the Osborn heir a firm handshake.

"Just waiting for Peter to get here," Harold answered.

"Actually, I saw him a moment ago, he had to go outside to meet some guy named…..Menken," Mary Jane responded, pausing to rack her brain to see if that was right. She didn't know Peter well but she did see him a time or too.

Harold sighed, there were sometimes where Peter didn't just wait around. His father remarried Peter's mother, so they were step brothers. Despite not being Norman's biological son, Harold grudgingly knew who Norman approved of more. He never was able to stand up to Norman Osborn's excessive high standards.

"Why don't we go outside?" Gwen suggested with a smile and she looked at Harry.

"I'm here to escort Gwen to OsCorp for the first day of her internship," Harry told him.

"Right, under Connors, right?" Harold asked. One might be able to detect a faint note of bitterness in his voice when he spoke. "My father is raving about you constantly, so beware, he might try and adopt you as his son if you're not careful."

"Kind of hard isn't it, given that I'm of age?" Harry asked.

Harold shrugged. "When my father has his eyes on something, he's going to do everything in his power to get it."

The group made their way outside. No sooner did they exit the building, they saw a large limo pulled up outside.

Peter Parker-Osborn started to talk to a sandy haired man, dressed in a three piece suit. It was Donald Menken. He resembled the one corporate toady that every single businessman in America had to have on his staff.

"Harry, I must have missed you when you got here!" Peter exclaimed. he moved over to greet his cousin. "So, how have you been doing?"

"Good, and I know that you've been busy," Harry said and Menken greeted Harry with the barest of acknowledgements. It was a brief acknowledgement but nothing more.

"Yes, busy," Peter said shaking his head. "And when Norman Osborn wants you to join him for a business conference in Germany, he's a very difficult man to say no too."

Menken leaned in and cleared his throat. That caused Peter and Harold to look at him.

"We need to get going now, and I'm sure that Miss Stacy and Mr. Evans-Potter do as well, "Menken said.

Peter sighed. It was obvious that Menken was sent here by their father to ensure that they made their way to the airport in time.

"When we get back, we should meet up, compare notes," Peter said and he clapped Harry on the shoulder.

The two Osborns entered the limo. They didn't want their father/step father to say anything about how they kept him waiting.

* * *

><p>Gwen Stacy had only seen OsCorp from the outside and through the ground floor office that she had her interview for the Internship. The tower was vast. It might not be as excessive as Stark Tower was and there were a couple of other places that more excessive. Still, it was certainly something. She wished she had about eight million eyes to see everything.<p>

Harry decided to take her on a tour for the building.

"The floor above us is sealed off for those who only have Level Nine access or above," Harry whispered to her.

"Do you have any idea what's going on up there?" Gwen asked.

Harry shook his head. "I have ideas, but OsCorp has a lot of outstanding military contracts that they have to fulfill. Not even for your known government agencies even or so the rumors go."

Gwen's eyes looked around and she gave a smile as she looked around. Harry wasn't kidding when he said that the place was big. It would not be that hard to get loss. She whistled and looked around, seeing the nice view from the entire city of New York. She saw a large Jumbo Tron attached to a building in the distance. The letters "DBC" could be spotted from her vantage point.

"And this is where I work," Harry said and he pulled Gwen out of her thoughts.

Gwen saw a double door leading a lab. She saw several chemicals in beakers. Her eyes traveled around the perimeter of the lab and saw a state of the art computer system. Several file cabinets lined up against the wall.

The blonde couldn't really pull her eyes off what she was seeing. Harry nudged her and brought her back out of her stupor.

"That's nice, very nice," Gwen said. She decided to say something that had been on her mind. "So what's the deal with you and Peter?"

"He's my cousin," Harry informed Gwen and she nodded in response. "He lived with us for a few months, when his parents went on a trip. Only it was more than a couple of months."

Harry pulled over a chair for Gwen to sit down and she did so.

"The Parkers were in a plane crash," Harry explained to her. "Richard Parker died instantly in the plane crash, and Mary Parker, she recovered eventually. While that happened, Peter stayed with us. Mary Parker….she ended up marrying Norman Osborn some time later."

Gwen could tell that might have been a point of contention for Ben Parker. Just a hunch that she had really.

"That lead to a falling out between her and my parents," Harry said. He would be lying if the big falling out happened with Ben Parker, who didn't approve of Norman Osborn. "Peter and I stayed in touch despite that, until he got sent off to boarding school with Harold. Peter did through it okay. Harold managed to get himself expelled from the boarding school. Actually about three of them, until Norman put him into a regular school when no boarding school would take him because of his attitude."

Gwen knew the younger Osborn and knew that he could come across as having a bit of a chip on his shoulder. She got along well with that. Given his father, she figured that he did have a lot to live up to.

"And Peter, he went off to Oxford, and he picked up a bit of a posh accent on the way."

Gwen laughed in response and grinned. "Yeah, I could about tell that when I met him."

"He's Norman's golden boy," Harry said and he sighed. "You know, I wasn't aware that Peter was back in the country until now, and then he was gone again."

"Yeah, he swung by to check in on his step brother," Gwen commented.

"Figured he might have gotten the heads up that I was coming by as well," Harry told her and Gwen shrugged.

"Don't know, he seems…..well he seems a bit…" Gwen said and she didn't really know how she would describe Peter Parker.

"He might seem a little standoffish if you don't know him well," Harry said and he leaned in towards her. "Most insufferable geniuses are."

Gwen smiled, she could relate and she was sure that Harry could to that point as well.

The door of the lab opened and a stout man with brown hair and glasses entered the lab. He wore a white lab coat, and a nice pair of shirts and dress slacks, stretched over his rotund form.

"Harry, I didn't expect you to come here this soon," the man said in a jovial voice.

"Hello, Otto, I didn't know that you were coming in this early."

"The meeting I was in concluded early, and I decided to stop by to see if there's anything that can be done."

The man walked further into the lab. The lab was shared between the two of them. Some of the time they had their own projects that they worked on and other times, they collaborated on projects. It really depended on the day.

"Otto, this is Gwen Stacy," Harry informed the man.

"Ah, yes, Doctor Connors informed me about you Miss Stacy," Otto said and he extended his hand for her to shake. "And Harry has told me nothing, but good things about you."

Gwen tried not to look too pleased with these words of endearment. Granted, she didn't try too hard.

"I trust you've heard of Doctor Otto Octavius," Harry said to Gwen.

"Yes, I've heard of him, who hasn't if they've kept up with the latest in the scientific world?" Gwen asked with a beaming voice.

"Both of us work for Mr. Osborn, although I am in charge of overseeing the operations when our boss decides to take a trip," Otto explained. "I just have a few things to check up on now before I leave for the night. It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Stacy."

He wasn't complaining about an early night and the meeting that he was in wrapped up sooner than he expected.

"So, how far have you gotten on your Doctorate?" Gwen asked, she wanted to know this information.

Harry led her across the lab to show her something and the blonde wondered what he had in mind.

"As you know I'm going for a major in Advanced Biochemistry and a minor in Genetics," Harry said and Gwen nodded. She forgot about the exact particulars with all that had been on her mind. She was glad Harry reminded her of that. "And I'm really close to getting it."

Gwen looked excited for him and also excited for something else.

"So, what are you showing me?" Gwen asked.

"This," Harry said and there was a set of notes on a work area. "It's something that I've been working on for Osborn."

"What is it?" Gwen asked curiously. She couldn't really make heads or tails of the formula at first glance. She was sure that if she had some time to break it down, she would understand.

"This is a project that should revolutionize the world," Harry said and he smiled. Otto gathered up his things and bid them a silent goodnight. After he was gone, Harry turned back towards Gwen. "It's been something that I've been working at for a long time."

Harry smiled, the necessary work was more than sufficient to obtain his Doctorate.

"It's called Oz."

* * *

><p>Harry finished up the grand tour some time later and lead Gwen down the hallway. They were going to meet with Doctor Curt Connors. Gwen had already met the man before.<p>

"His lab is right across the hallway," Harry informed her. Gwen nodded graciously at him.

Doctor Connors waited for Harry and Gwen. He was a youthful looking man with sandy looking hair. He was of rather average built, the stereotypical science type person. The most glaring thing that one could see about him was that he missed his right arm, which he lost in an accident some years back.

"Miss Stacy, it's good to meet you again," Connors said. He reached forward to shake her hand with his lone arm.

Gwen took a look at the lab. She saw a large tank off to the side with several specimens of lizards crawling about on the inside. She smiled when she looked around.

"The pleasure is all mine, Doctor Connors," Gwen said and she stood next to Harry. She wasn't really short by any conventional means. It was obvious when she stood shoulder by shoulder to Harry, he towered over her. "Thanks for giving me the opportunity, I won't let you down, I really won't."

"Miss Stacy, I know you won't," Connors said. "I've discussed some things that we'll be working on during the interview. You were one of three candidates to apply for the position. After we narrowed it down, it was without undisputed proof that you're the best one for the internship."

Gwen tried not to let that go to her head and Harry's gaze looked at her. She looked modest, or at least as modest as she would right now.

"Harry gave you the tour around the area of the building so that part is done," Connors said and Gwen paused. "We're working on things at OsCorp that can change the world. I know that everyone says that, but here, we mean it. It may be a year down the line or ten before these projects bear fruit, but I hope to be a member of your staff for some time."

Gwen turned around and she shuddered when she saw something. It was an involuntary reaction based off of something that happened during her childhood that she really didn't want to think.

"I see that you've seen are genetically engineered spiders," Connors replied. "It's a relatively new process, where we've tested the prototype strain of certain strains. This is a fresh batch for the first prototype of the OZ serum that Harry reached to an ideal stage. We're going to see how the spiders evolved."

They could go either way right now. If the spiders achieved enhanced abilities that would mean that the formula was going the right way. Their bodies may terminate themselves after a certain amount of time due to their tiny spider bodies not being able to sustain the strain of the OZ serum.

Or they could die within the next few hours, which meant they were back to the drawing board in any rate.

The third and extremely least likely option was that the spiders would not have any kind of visible change.

"Tonight is all about going around the lab and getting comfortable, the real work begins tomorrow," Doctor Connors said. "I don't want you to feel stifled when you're here, so if you have any questions or ideas; feel free to relay them to me."

Gwen nodded, she soaked in all that she had to do. There was a lot that she could accomplish here at OsCorp if she was just given the opportunity. She supposed that the spiders could be an interesting project, providing they didn't get loose.

"What happens if the spiders get loose?" Gwen asked.

Harry understood Gwen's concern but he tried to relieve here fears.

"They're locked in tight, and for monitoring purposes only," Harry said and he turned towards Doctor Connors. "And the case is only open when all of the spiders are deceased, right?"

"Yes, that's correct," Connors said. There was also the spiders that were being studied that were far well aged but that was elsewhere in the facility and beyond the scope of Gwen's responsibilities. He continued to talk to Gwen about the projects that they were working on.

It was more to verify a few things that she already knew during the interview process. The real work would begin during the next day.

"You're going to mostly be my assistant, "Connors concluded. "But I'm more than confident that you're up for that job."

Gwen nodded, she was ready. You had to start somewhere if you wanted to move up in the world after all.

* * *

><p>It was later that night after that meeting at OsCorp wrapped up. Harry and Gwen found themselves back on the train that was heading back home.<p>

Gwen leaned up against him with a smile on her face. His arm wrapped tightly around her body where she sat. She was about five foot six inches tall and the fact was that she was one of the taller girls in her class. So it was more than impressive that Harry towered over her at a good six foot and four inches.

"So, how's Felicia doing?" Gwen asked. She was trying to be casual with this question. "I mean, I see the two of you normally together, but…I haven't seen her for a while."

Harry could hear the light rumbling of the train as they went home. He looked thoughtful and he made sure his grip was tight on Gwen. The sixteen year old girl shifted around his body. This was a pretty intimate position, come to think about it. It was just as well because of both of them tended to be really close.

"We broke up," Harry said and Gwen was surprised by that. "Well mostly because she's going to be in Europe for an extremely long time."

"Oh, well I guess you're just on a break until she gets together what she needs to get together," Gwen said and she thought of something else or rather someone else. "How about Jean?"

Harry smiled. "She's doing pretty fine last time I've checked. I haven't talked to her in a while, but she's been pretty busy lately. I've been planning on heading up to Westchester in a couple of weeks. If you want to, you can come with me."

Gwen thought about it, and seconds later, made a split decision.

She considered this for a long time, for a year in fact. She didn't really think that she had the nerve to pull the trigger.

Gwen blossomed over the past year. She had some growing pains for a while, but she really found her niche. Harry took her under his wing before he moved on for high school. He was only there when she was a Freshman but he mentored her. And he checked in on her regularly, to make sure she fulfilled her full potential.

'_Now or never,' _she thought.

Gwen turned towards him and looked at Harry with her bright blue eyes. A smile crossed her face.

"So, that means that you're pretty much single, right now?" Gwen asked. She shifted closely to her. "Well technically speaking."

Harry's bright emerald eyes locked onto hers in response and he gave her a knowing smile.

That was all the confirmation that Gwen needed. She straddled his lap and leaned in towards him. Harry held the small of her back to steady her. Their lips met in a blistering kiss which caused both of them to become electrified with passion.

**To Be Continued on November 25****th****, 2014. **

* * *

><p><strong>Lots of characters showing up in this chapter. Obviously some are more important than others. And future villains show up.<br>**

**And Norman gets the son he always wanted in Peter. I would say that Harold "One Harry Limit" Osborn would not be having a good time but he was screwed the second he inherited that hair line from his old man.  
><strong>

**Gwen showing up was only inevitable. Of course if you read the description, you should have already known that.  
><strong>

**Lots of Easter eggs in this chapter for the attentive or knowledgeable reader.  
><strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three:**

* * *

><p>Gwen Stacy couldn't believe it. This was like a dream come true for her. To the point where she was almost sure that she was going to be jolted awake and she was going to be left wet and frustrated.<p>

'_Please no, please no,' _she thought. The young blonde eagerly squirmed when she felt Harry's arms tighten around her. His muscular body pressed against hers.

Gwen closed her eyes tightly and Harry lifted her a little bit off of the ground. That allowed her to obtain a more comfortable position where she was. Her soft moist lips found Harry's and the two of them entangled themselves in a extremely passionate kiss.

Harry smiled and he indulged himself in Gwen's soft silky lips. His hands roamed through her hair and he could feel her up against him. Her daring increased when she rubbed up against him. The sixteen year old female's hand snaked behind him for a second.

Her hand brushed against the back of his head and slowly started to trace circles around the back of his neck. Gwen opened her mouth to allow his tongue entrance deep into her mouth. She stopped for a moment. Time felt like it froze completely still, until at least the moment where he kept kissing her again.

Gwen's eyes screwed tight when she felt his mouth chew on the side of hers. The blonde's hands busied themselves all over his back and he did likewise.

Harry shifted downwards, running his hands over her soft stocking clad legs. Gwen felt her body heat up.

More so when his legs roamed their way all the way up her legs and cupped her ass. The blonde's eyes screwed shut when she felt the pleasure that increased through her body. That was extremely amazing and she thought that she would die because his hands traveled all over her body.

This amazed Gwen to her fullest degree. His tongue continued to dance between her lips and she latched onto it, suckling it as hard as she could. The pleasure passed through her body when he continued to explore every single last inch of it.

Eventually Gwen lost some steam because something had to give. Harry gripped her tight ass into her hands. She squealed into his mouth in response.

Slowly, Gwen could feel Harry grin against her. He pulled away from the kiss, leaving her wanton and frustrated with her desire for him.

Harry's mouth attacked the side of her neck and kissed her fast and furiously down the side of her neck. The blonde's eyes closed tight when she felt that rush down her body. She shivered when he worked her over.

His lips touched her neck and reached her pulse point. He sucked on it.

Gwen thought that she was going to die. This was truer when his fingers brushed against her taunt stomach. He went down and he placed his thumb against her inner thigh. He was so closed to penetrating her, her panties were the only barrier and he retracted the thumb down her.

"Please Harry, take me," Gwen begged him, and she undid the buttons of his shirt. He allowed her to kiss him down the neck.

The blonde stroked down his chest, and felt his muscles underneath her hands. She experimented and she edged lower.

Much to her chagrin, Harry stopped her hands from traveling just a little bit further down. Gwen's eyes snapped around and her mouth hung open.

"Harry," Gwen murmured in a low tone.

"I really want to make love to you," Harry told her.

Gwen wondered what the delay was. If her hand's hadn't been trapped, she would have put them on her hips. "And why…..why…..why would you wait?"

Gwen seemed flustered, she was ready for him. Harry's gaze penetrated hers.

The blonde shivered when those green eyes met her blue eyes. It was enough to drive any girl absolutely nuts and she felt that she had been driven by the bend.

"I don't want your first time to be on a subway car."

Gwen's eyebrow's raised and she gave a frustrated whimper. She came to realization and an agreement. Her hormones got down to a manageable level.

Harry leaned in and gave her a kiss on the forehead. That soothed her just a little bit.

"We're going to get to your stop really soon," Harry told her. Gwen's mood brightened a little bit.

"Great, I need to get off," Gwen commented to him. Harry raised his eyebrow towards her. She realized what she said and backtracked quickly. "At my stop, I need to go and get off at my stop."

Harry looked at her with a smile on his face, a knowing one at that. That caused Gwen to blush.

He placed his arm around her shoulder and pulled her in. "Don't worry, honey, I know exactly what you meant."

Gwen couldn't help but smile at the term of endearment. It settled her ego rather nicely.

* * *

><p>It was a beautiful New York evening, without a cloud in the sky or a hitch in the arrangements. It was the kind of night that people were safely outdoors without a care in the world.<p>

Harry walked home with Gwen to make sure that she got home alright. The two of them walked with their arms intertwined. It was a short distance to Gwen's apartment from the stop at the subway station.

"It's a nice night," Gwen said. She closed her eyes, enjoying the atmosphere around her.

What almost happened was fresh on her mind. Gwen thought about inviting Harry inside to finish what they started on the train.

That was before she spotted a parental unit heading on home so that plan was kind of nipped in the bud.

Harry noticed Captain George Stacy making his way home off of his ship. The Captain of the NYPD, he obviously had a long day, judging by the looks of him. He stopped to acknowledge the man's presence.

"Good evening to you, Captain Stacy," Harry told him.

"Harry," George Stacy said. He looked rather calm when he looked at both of them. He would have been blind to see the fact that his daughter was cozy with this young man.

He figured that this was bound to happen sooner or later, with the time that they had spent together over the past couple of years. It was a wonder that it didn't happen sooner but he supposed that there were certain obstacles in mind. Not that he spent too much time thinking about the inner workings of his daughter's dating life.

It was a huge step for a father to admit that his daughter even had a dating life. The bigger step was to think about the inner workings.

"I'd like to invite you to dinner a week from now, if that's agreeable to you," George said.

"It's good," Harry said. He could see Gwen shift a bit nervously against him. He tightened his arm around her protectively and brought her in.

"So, how was your first day at OsCorp?" George asked her. He had mixed feelings about his daughter interning there, but it was an opportunity that she couldn't pass up.

Besides, Gwen was old enough to understand what she wanted, as much as he hated to admit that as a father.

"It was good, Dad," Gwen commented with a smile towards him. "Mostly just showing me around there today, the real work begins tomorrow with Doctor Connors."

Even George Stacy admitted that Curt Connors was a stand up type of guy and he had no problems with his daughter interning under him.

He barely stifled a yawn.

"What, is it past your bedtime already, Dad?" Gwen asked in a cheeky voice.

"It's been a long day, and I already had an early morning," George replied in response. "I'll see you both soon, I'm heading in for the night."

"Good night, Captain Stacy," Harry told him with a smile as the man walked in.

"Yeah, good night, Dad," Gwen added in an excited voice, and Harry placed his hands on either side of her. She relaxed up against him, allowing a long sigh to escape her lips.

The two were left to their own devices for a second.

Gwen looked at the time and she knew why her father was so tired. It was a bit late and he was gone long before she had breakfast.

"So," Gwen said, letting out that word in a long sigh. "I guess you need to get going."

"I better," Harry added and he leaned in towards her.

The two of them stole one kiss underneath the moonlight. Their tongues tangled together.

Gwen tried to get the better of Harry but his experience proved to be her undoing.

'_Cold shower before I go to bed I think,' _Gwen thought. She detached herself from Harry, nibbling briefly on his lips when she pulled away from him.

"Good night, Gwen," Harry said.

Gwen stole one final kiss. She couldn't help herself. "Good night Harry."

She practically skipped on her way to the door, in amusement. Harry watched her leave in amusement.

Harry checked his watch at that point. His amusement faded for a second when he realized what the time was.

'_Well I'm late,' _Harry thought and he ducked into an alleyway.

He faded into the darkness, disappearing without making a sound. If someone had been watching him, they would have seen that he was there one minute, and gone the next minute. It would have been very confusing if one didn't know what Harry was capable of.

* * *

><p>Harry Evans-Parker arrived at his Mother and Uncle's house. Technically speaking Ben Parker was about as good of his father, but legally speaking May was the only one who could sign the adoption since Ben couldn't get time off of work. That was where it was legally speaking. Harry decided not to split any hairs with it.<p>

He carried a large bag of groceries that he had to pick up earlier, nothing really extraordinary, just things that they were out of. Harry made his way towards the door, his arms overflowing with the groceries.

Before he could open up the front door, a redhead made her way out of the door really quickly. She was moving quickly without paying that much attention to where she was going. He had to dodge her presence.

Unfortunately, it was too little too late to dodge her presence. For one Mary Jane Watson nearly smacked head onto Harry. He managed to maneuver the groceries underneath one arm and he held her up underneath one arm.

He saved the perky redhead teen from falling on her ass, which would have left a mark.

"Hey, MJ, fancy meeting you here," Harry commented towards her.

Mary Jane was helped to her feet. "Well, this is a nice surprise, isn't it Harry?"

Once Mary Jane was firmly on the ground, Harry let her go. She'd be lying through her teeth if she wasn't disappointed by this arrangement of Harry letting go of her.

"So how did things go today with Gwen?" Mary Jane asked. She barely kept a knowing smile crossing her face.

"I wouldn't want to think that the two of you were scheming about something," Harry said. In response Mary Jane gave him a little pout. Harry smiled at her. "Well, she got settled in, and when took the subway and I walked her home the rest of the way. Everything is running smoothly at OsCorp."

"Oh, I'm glad it is," Mary Jane told him brightly. Her bright eyes stared him down. "It's just that Gwen was looking forward to that internship. It could be the big break she wants."

"And how about your big break?" Harry asked her.

"Oh, you mean the photography thing, well it's a work in progress," Mary Jane said to him. She flushed slightly but recovered quickly.

She really needed some kind of photo that would really blow someone's socks off. The problem was that she didn't have the proper opportunity. She waited anxiously for that moment.

"I'm sure that you'll be able to figure something out MJ, I have faith in you," Harry told her.

Mary Jane tried not to look too pleased with herself.

"Glad that one of us does," Mary Jane said and Harry's eyes stared at her. "Kidding, kidding, of course…..it's just been harder than I thought."

One couldn't be their very best if they couldn't rise up to the challenge.

"I'll get out of your way," Mary Jane said. She leaned closer towards Harry, as closely as she would dare anyway. "It was really nice talking to you again, you know."

Harry made sure she made it down the driveway okay, but the walk to her house was not that long being that she was the girl next door.

Mary Jane stopped and stared, turning to Harry with mischief dancing from her eyes. "Oh, and Harry?"

"What?" Harry asked her.

Her grin got even wider when she looked him over. "You've got lipstick on her lips."

Harry was well aware of that and Mary Jane gave him a knowing wink. When that was done and over with, she turned away and made her way home.

He wanted to get inside before these groceries spoiled.

Harry entered the house and he could see May and Ben Parker sitting around the table. They were both preparing to eat a late dinner because they got home from their late jobs. May was a Nurse and Ben worked as a Security Supervisor for a nearby Stark Industries facility.

"So, how was your day?" Ben asked, after the initial greeting.

Harry mentally debated about how much to tell them and he decided to give a general overview.

"I made sure that Gwen got to Oscorp okay and showed her around, after that I brought her home, and I went to pick up groceries," Harry said.

"I would have taken care of that tomorrow," Ben told him, but May gave him a look. He cleared his throat and amended his last statement. "Thank you, Harry, I appreciate it."

"It wasn't a problem at all," Harry told them and he walked over to put the groceries away. One firm gaze told his mother and uncle to stay put. "Oh, and…..I should let you know that I ran into Peter today when I went to pick up Gwen."

Ben Parker's face darkened for a moment and May gave him one of those looks, so he fell back into line.

"I don't understand what went wrong there," Ben grumbled to himself. "My brother, I don't think that he'd be happy to see what happened there."

"I'm sure that he'd want Mary to try and to live a happy life the best she could, and Peter as well," May said. There was a frown on her face, as if she was trying to convince herself of this as much as she was Ben.

She agreed with her husband about what happened. Norman's motivations about marrying Mary had both of them wondered about. Some of Richard Parker's research died with them, but May and Ben didn't even begin to understand what was being worked to.

"You do remind me of him somewhat," Ben told Harry and Harry looked towards him. "Richard, that is. I think the two of you would have got along great."

"I'm sure we would have," Harry agreed. He held his tongue back, wondering if he could say that he got along with Peter well enough.

"Well, we learned one thing a long time ago, both Richard and I, and I'm sure that he took this lesson to the grave with him," Ben said when he took a wistful trip down memory lane.

He cleared his throat and he could tell that he drifted off for a second.

"But there was one thing that both of us learned a long time ago, and that was with great power, there must also come great responsibility," Ben said and he stared at Harry. "But I guess in your case, it's more like great intelligence."

"The two of them are intertwined," Harry commented.

"Let's have dinner," May suggested, moving the conversation along to a different direction. She wanted to know what Harry's meeting with her nephew was like, but she knew that it was an extremely sore subject to Ben and she knew the reasons why it was.

* * *

><p>Harry found himself hard at work at OsCorp in his lab. This was a state where he functioned his absolutely best, when there was pressure on him. The pressure caused him to increase his productivity. Harry wouldn't accept anything less than absolute productivity.<p>

"Progress Log 01122," Harry said on a tape recorder. "Today was a fruitful day when I think that we might have been close to reaching a breakthrough that will complete the formula."

He put his hand down and looked at the calculations. There was a big gaping hole where he hit a snag.

"Sadly, we hit a snag," Harry continued his recording. "This one element could be something to stabilize the formula. Without it, it has consequences that are too dire for any human test. I cannot recommend any usage of this formula under this current state. I hope that with the current round of testing will shed more light on it."

Harry paused and added.

"As it stands right now, the formula will horrifically mutate anything that it touches," Harry said. He looked at some of the notes and they were horrifying. He remained calm and collected. "Simulations show a ghastly result. These horrific mutations make it unfit for consumption. A new round of experimentation and a modification to the formula should very well be the difference maker between our future success and certain failure. Only time will tell."

No sooner did Harry complete that sentence to chart his progress did Otto enter the room. He looked a bit out of it.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked him.

Otto shrugged him off. "It's nothing….but have you had any luck?"

"I'm closer than I was before today, but it's not a stable formula now," Harry said. He motioned to the progress, showing Otto it briefly. "Based on the simulations that I've run their enhancements can be measured within moments and not seconds as they were prior to today."

He gave Otto a base summary of his report. The scientist nodded, it seemed to be a recurring version of the same old problem.

"It was unstable when Richard Parker and Connors worked on it," Otto informed him.

"Oh, was it based off of the work that Erskine did during World War II to create Captain America?" Harry asked.

Otto shook his head in the negative.

"No," he informed Harry. "It's meant to cure people suffering from diseases like AIDS and cancer, in a way to restore them back to their full genetic potential."

Otto paused and recollected his thoughts.

"The idea, the theory, is to replace flawed genetic sequences with those that would promote healing," Otto said, and knowing smile flashed over his face. "And obviously, Connors has his own motivation. It could regrow his arm."

Harry figured that was a prime motivation for something like that.

"This is actually the third generational version of OZ serum that you're working on," Otto told him. "The first generational version works, in minor doses. The only thing that it works on is insects and archanids."

"I see," Harry said. "What about the second generational formula?"

Otto looked rather despondent and the reason why was coming up. "That formula went to the grave with Richard Parker. We don't know if he completed it or if it died with him. Regardless it's all gone."

Harry could tell that Otto was none too happy by the fact that formula got lost and he was pretty sure that Norman Osborn wouldn't be either.

"The only legacy that particular formula has is a bunch of genetically enhanced spiders with super strong webbing," Otto said.

"Oh you mean the one's that are kept in a lab next to Connor's?" Harry asked and Otto nodded in confirmation.

"The very same."

They were only kept as a monument and a way to see if any of the secrets that had died with Richard Parker could be unlocked with them. So far, that hit a complete and total dead end.

Otto shifted off to get some work done of his own and Harry work on his.

He was curious about how far Richard came with the second generational OZ formula. It would have held the key to stabilize his current problem.

Providing of course that the formula was completed, it was entirely possible that it never was before he was killed in the plane crash.

Harry couldn't be concerned with what was done in the past.

'_Okay, let's see if this will work,' _Harry thought, a potential brain storm hitting him. He made a note.

This would be a slow and audacious process to get all of his ducks in a line.

* * *

><p>Harry had a brainstorm. While he saw the spiders pretty much several times, he never paid them too much mind other than a scientific curiosity. Now that Otto said that they were the only legacy to OZ Generation 2 Formula, Harry found himself intrigued.<p>

He figured that he could head over to the lab himself and check things out. After he took care of one little thing, he was back into the elevator to go back to the floor where the lab was.

There was a young man who entered the elevator with him. He was a white man with dark hair and underneath his arm, he carried a toolbox. He wore a blue uniform, with the name tag of DILLON on it and Harry noticed that he was an electrician.

Harry currently pressed his cell phone onto his ear, holding the bag he had in his other hand.

"You really need to come up here some time Harry," Emma said to him over the phone. "We've been busy with some impressive projects and I just know that you're dying to see it."

Harry snickered at Emma's excitement.

"I've been just sitting up in my office bored out of my mind," Emma commented in a low purr. "You know running a multi-million dollar corporation isn't everything that it's cracked up to be when you think about the tedious busywork."

"I'll get up there when I can, Emma," Harry told her.

He could see the electrician fiddling with something in his toolbox. The two men had no time for conversation. The lights flickered for a moment and Harry could see that there was a new for an electrician.

"Oh that would be lovely, and I'm sure the two of us can have lunch together, just the two of us," Emma said.

Harry could almost see her smile. She thought that she was being more subtle than she really was.

"You know, if you just wanted lunch, all you had to do was ask," Harry told her.

"Yes, it's on me, I'll give you all that you can eat, Harry," Emma commented in a flirty tone of voice.

'_Subtle,' _Harry thought, never the less he was amused by this.

"Or would you like to skip straight to dessert?" Emma asked. Her voice got even lower. "But, I've got a lot of new toys that I want to show you up here…..in the Frost Industries development lab."

Emma allowed that tantalizing offer to hang for seconds and then she piped back in.

"And just think, of what we can accomplish if we work together," Emma said, more seriously than the innuendo she had been dropping left and right.

"Don't think that I haven't thought about it," Harry told her.

Emma gave him a grin and nodded. "I'm glad that you have."

The elevator dinged and they were on their floor. Dillon the Electrician made his way out and went down the hallway towards the circuit boxes.

"I'll keep that in mind, but I've got to talk to your later, business calls," Harry said.

Emma gave an extremely long and labored sigh over the phone in response. "I know, tell me about it…it's things like that which make the world go around. Not all of the nuts and bolts can work in interesting ways. And there's just some things that you can't delegate."

The two of them terminated their conversation. Harry directed his attention to Connors's lab and sauntered his way down the hallway.

He approached at the door where it was already open. Connors must have left a little bit ago for lunch. That actually worked into his plans perfectly.

He saw Gwen hunched over the desk, flipping through a file. She was emerged in what she was doing greatly, but then again, Harry would be disappointed if she wasn't.

Harry placed down the bag that he brought with him down on her desk. He took a moment to clear his throat. "I come bearing hamburgers."

Gwen looked at him with a beaming look and a smile on her face. "My hero."

Harry couldn't help but chuckle at the swoon that she gave him. The two of them set out lunch and ate it.

"So, how was your day?" Harry asked Gwen.

"Great," Gwen said. There was excitement brimming through her voice that was quite frankly infectious. "Took me a while to get into the groove, but it's really simple work."

"Knew that you'd fit in really well," Harry told her. He leaned in closer to her so he can speak to her. "You just got to reach for the stars."

"Well, I'll try and reach higher," Gwen said and she paused, taking a bite out of her hamburger. She chewed on it and swallowed it. Then her blue eyes met Harry's green ones. "How about you, how are you doing today?"

"Fine," Harry said. Gwen frowned at him.

"I know that look from you, you're trying to do something and you've run into a wall," Gwen said.

Harry took a moment to throw his hands up and look at her. That was true; she caught him with his hands down.

"The OZ formula…it's mostly done," Harry told her. "I stress mostly."

"You've run into a snag, haven't you?" Gwen asked him and Harry smiled.

"You could say that, yes," Harry agreed with her. "It works, to a point, but it doesn't stabilize that well."

Gwen would see where that would be a snag. She really wished that she could think of something. From what she saw of the calculations, she knew that Harry had a long and winding road ahead of him.

Harry frowned when he thought about it, even though he really didn't want to think of it.

"Don't worry about what I'm doing though," Harry told her and Gwen nodded in response. "You have a lot of things on your mind, and a lot of things to do. Lot of responsibilities as well."

"Yeah, but I didn't sign up for this because it was easy," Gwen commented firmly.

Harry would have been disappointed if she didn't. The two of them ate lunch with each other and made some idle chatter about their day.

He didn't want to come here and ask Gwen to do something straight away. He hoped that she would be more agreeable after the fact that she had food in her stomach.

"Lights have been flickering on and off all morning," Gwen said.

Harry nodded. "I saw an electrician coming here, apparently there's a short somewhere, or something. Don't know what the problem is exactly."

Gwen frowned. "Hopefully it isn't serious."

Harry doubted that it was serious; he didn't know when the last time this building had anything changed.

"So, is Doctor Connors coming back soon?" Harry asked her.

"He said that he had to run by and do something on his lunch break, and then have a meeting in another lab, he left me with some work to do," Gwen said. She tried not to look too pleased with herself when she relayed this next bit to Harry. "Which I got done."

Harry smiled at her and made his decision.

"So, Gwen, do you want to check out something with me?"

She wondered what he had in mind.

**To Be Continued On 11/28/2014. **

* * *

><p><strong>Well this chapter pretty much is setting up Chapter Four, which should be big. Big as important, not big as in length though. But a longer chapter would undercut the importance of the next chapter.<br>**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four:**

* * *

><p>Maxwell Dillon worked as an Electrician for a company that subcontracted many companies. One of their best clients had been OsCorp. He had been brought onboard to fix a little problem.<p>

The man walked forward and made his way to the lab. There was a short of power and it could interfere with some of the experiments that were going on. He didn't ask too many questions because he wasn't paid to ask questions.

Dillon made his way into the lab area, and he saw a research scientist make her way out of the lab, carrying a tube of some kind of chemical. The two of them couldn't stop each other in the nick of time.

The research scientist smacked had long into Dillon. She slid back onto the ground and landed hard on the ground.

The chemicals she carried splashed on Dillon's chest. He recoiled for the slightest second. Then there was nothing for several minutes. He stood there, not really affected by anything that the chemicals did to him.

"Sorry, sorry," she said. She stammered in an apologetic voice and raised her eyebrows.

"Not a problem," Dillon said in a gruff voice and he reached forward.

"Don't worry, it won't hurt you," the scientist said. She was a tiny woman, so running into someone like Dillon shook her up something fierce.

Dillon was just going to have to take her word for it. He took her hand and picked her up to the ground.

Only half of the chemical spilled out of the tube that she held. She eyeballed it nervously, rolling it over in her hand and departed, to leave Dillon with his work.

Dillon was glad that he didn't drop any of his tools because some of these that he had couldn't be replaced that easily. He made sure his equipment was secured and placed his hands on the door.

He felt a cold snap of air flying through the lab, or so it seemed. He shuddered for a second, brushing off that as if it was nothing. The man shook his shoulders back and walked his way to the lab.

'_Autumn starts sooner every year, I swear,' _Dillon thought. The electrician took a moment to compose himself and breathe heavily. He shakily removed a key card from his uniform.

He swiped the keycard against the door and waited for it to click open. He smiled at the success that he had and awaited for his entrance into the lab.

He looked around and saw all of the generators in place. There were tanks with electric eels in it, part of OsCorp's green energy program. It was their part to make sure that they did what they could to help the environment. One might argue that they had more sinister motives in mind, but that was not any of Dillon's concern. He was just here to make sure the electrical outlet worked properly.

Dillon made his way towards the table and placed the toolbox down. He felt a bit weak momentarily and gave a cough for a second. He felt a flash of cold, followed by a flash of hot. Then seconds later, he felt perfectly fine.

When he kept feeling fine seconds later, Dillon shrugged. He had new energy through him and went into his toolbox, getting the tools that he needed to fix this problem.

The lights flickered above him one more time and he blinked. Shrugging, he got back to work.

* * *

><p>Harry and Gwen finished lunch and the duo now walked their way over past the consoles of the lab.<p>

"So?" Gwen asked, her curiosity getting the better of her. She somehow regretted doing so. "What is it you want to show me?"

"It's just something that I wanted to look into, remember, you did see a glimpse of it the other day," Harry told her. Harry pushed through the door. Gwen followed him.

Realization slowly dawned on her where they were going. Gwen paused, her shoulders slumping for a second. "Oh, that."

She wasn't going to say that this was going to be a favorable encounter with something like that. In fact, she hoped to make her interaction with those things to be minimal.

Harry was only half paying attention to what Gwen was doing. He figured that she should mandate his full attention. The problem was that Harry could feel that there was a lot of untapped potential with this legacy that Richard Parker left for them to speculate. There had to be a reason why they kept these spiders around. It wasn't as a monument.

Harry suspected that they tried to unlock those secrets that he kept to his grave. He left no notes behind, and he didn't know how much his widow knew about what he was up to. That was one of the reasons why many suspected an ulterior motive in Norman's marriage to the former Mary Parker.

Not that Harry concerned himself with such rumors, frankly because it was none of his business.

Gwen hitched in a breath that she held. She had to admit that they were magnificent looking creatures. Some that had this many eyes and far too many legs was not something she could trust.

"What's the matter?" Harry asked her, squeezing her hand.

Gwen jumped back into focus when Harry did that action. It did cause her to be calm, slightly, somewhat at least. "Nothing, really, it's nothing."

Harry frowned at her. "You're pretty jumpy for nothing, aren't you?"

"Well, I guess that I am jumpy because of something," Gwen said, shifting against her legs and bending her knees slightly. She rocked herself up and down and got herself back on track.

"The spiders?" Harry asked her. "Oh, they're harmless, especially when they're locked away. They've barely even moved all the time I've been here."

Gwen could have sworn that one of them moved right then when she was standing there. She turned her gaze to give Harry a cross look.

"Barely, and I think they're only moving because they know that we're here, it's some kind of territorial thing," Harry said and he pressed his hand on the other side of the glass. He carefully looked at the spiders. "As limited as it might seem, that glass case is their home, the only one that they've ever known."

Gwen could see two of the spiders move around and she watched Harry make his way over to the console. He pressed a few buttons where something flashed up on the screen.

"Have to wait a minute to get this up," Harry said, and he clutched Gwen's arm against his own, or rather she clutched his into hers. "So what's the deal, I've never seen you seem so squeamish."

Gwen closed her eyes and Harry wrapped his arm tightly around her. She felt a little bit more relaxed, a little more at least, although not entirely with Harry's arm around her. It helped a lot. Gwen diverted down that long trip down memory lane.

"You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to," Harry said. He leaned in to give her a light kiss on the forehead, which caused her to shiver. "I just think that it might help a little bit."

Harry followed the progress of the spiders and he realized that they were here for another purpose. He frowned when he saw the spider silk that was harvested from them. His frown deepened the more that he thought about this.

'_Curious, really curious,' _Harry thought, but he didn't really bother himself with this point that much.

Gwen thought about what Harry said. "I…..well this brings back all kinds of memories…from back in grade school…..and it's really stupid."

"No, it's not," Harry told her and Gwen frowned.

"How do you know, I haven't even told you?" Gwen challenged him.

Harry waved his hand towards her and told her to continue.

"Eugene, you know Flash Thompson," Gwen said. Harry nodded; he knew exactly who Gwen referred to. "Well, he thought that it would be funny if he dropped a spider on my head in the middle of science class."

Harry could see that it freaked her out. He tightened his hand around her.

"Yeah, Eugene thought it was a laugh riot, but he has a bit of a simplistic sense of humor," Gwen said, with a frown on her face. "Of course, the fact that he got knocked out by an errant dodgeball during the next gym class was purely coincidental."

Harry honestly had no idea why schools still decided that dodgeball was an appropriate sport to play. It just seemed like a recipe for headaches and concussions.

"So ever since that happened…..I haven't been too fond of spiders," Gwen said. She tightened her arm around Harry's arm when she held her in tightly towards him.

"You're afraid of them, aren't you?"

"Not afraid, more slightly squicked out by them, and if you've seen some of them up close, you know what I've meant," Gwen said.

Rose told him about the giant spiders in the aptly named Forbidden Forest that had human speech. Harry shook his head, whoever thought that introducing something like that into the forest was a good idea might be a little bit touched in the head.

"Don't worry, honey, I understand," Harry whispered. He rolled his fingers through her hair, causing her to relax a little bit underneath his touch.

Gwen smiled and she saw something more interesting than spiders and how repulsed she was by them.

"Otto told me that these spiders survived one of the rounds of OZ testing," Harry told her. He made sure that he had Gwen's attention before he explained what he found out earlier.

Gwen looked awestruck about what she found out. "They must be older than I thought…..I was under the impression that these were recent test subjects, you know like in the last few weeks."

"I think that's the impression that they want us to have," Harry said as he finally made proper use of his security credentials to bring the image of the Spider DNA front and center.

He compared it side by side with a normal Spider DNA strand. The differences between the two of them were obvious.

Harry noticed some kind of anomaly with them and he frowned deeply. He had to make sure and he tried to find something within the strand of DNA.

"That's odd," Harry whispered. In response to this, Gwen stood up straight, confused by what Harry classified as odd. He decided to tell her. "The spiders were exposed to a completely different version of Oz then the one that we have here on record."

Gwen frowned ,that was extremely odd.

"I don't know if they knew that it was this different," Harry said.

He wondered if it was stable. The fact that the spiders were here for this long could point to the fact that something was stabilized. There was also the very obvious fact that they were extracting and collecting silk from the spiders.

Gwen watched the screen and soaked in the complex DNA sequences. Mostly because of the fact that it allowed her to look away from those spiders on the screen, which she found to be a good thing.

Harry's arm tightened around her waist and he held her in tightly to him. She lazily leaned against his body, content with the position she was put into.

It was one that she felt secure in.

* * *

><p>After Dillon's initial dizzy spell, he felt really fine regarding what he had to do. He looked at the panel to check out the problem. When he found out what he saw he took out a screwdriver. It was really a low tech method to get things done, but you know what, it got the job done.<p>

The screws disconnected and he pulled the access panel back from the wall. He gently placed it to the side and made sure the screws were all in one place.

"Okay, let's see if I can find the problem here," Dillon said. He had his walkie talky set on his toolbox, if he needed to give a warning that the problem needed an evacuation.

There was a potential possibility that he would have to shut the power completely down for all or part of the building. The part he thought had the problem didn't have anything vital or that was what Donald Menken told him. If he had work anywhere else, then he would have had to make an announcement, so the obvious safeguards could be made.

That was the problem with working with these big companies, there was so many legal hoops to get through. Instead, he really wished that he could just do his job and get his shit done.

'_I've got a good idea what the problem is here,' _Dillon said, frowning deeply. He pulled a scanning device out of his toolbox and ran it over the cables. He nodded. _'Could have been worse, could have been a lot of better.'_

There were six cables and one of them shorted out big time. It worked some of the time, but not all of the time. He would have to replace it.

Slipping on a pair of safety gloves, Dillon unhooked the cable. He was glad that they were set up like this, like a series of tubes. It was set up where he only had to remove one if something was wrong. It made his life so much easier.

He made his way over to the storage closet, whistling. After that earlier dizzy spell, there was a renewed spring in his step when he walked over the storage closet.

He reached into the closet and pulled out a new cable. Taking his scanner, he ran it over with his scanner. The scanner rang positive and he smiled.

"Perfect," Dillon said. He leaned in to replace the cable. After one more check to ensure that there was no other fault equipment, he could call it a day.

There was a problem, he felt completely light headed again. After a long time of uninterrupted health, now his dizzy spells returned.

Dillon fell down hard onto the ground, ramming the live cable into his midsection. Sparks flew in every direction and he screamed in agony when he launched into the air. His next destination was the tank of eels that were nearby.

He slammed through the glass hard, still electrified from the live wire in his hand. The eels reacted in the matter that one would expect, lighting up Dillon. His shrieks of agony punctuated with a great deal of pain.

His blood curdling scream could be heard down the hallway. The door to the room was locked and he could barely hear frantic pounding on it.

The electricity burned him extremely badly and his body spasmed in agony. His screams died off completely and he barely registered the doors being knocked open to save him.

The limp and blackened body of Maxwell Dillon laid there. He felt a jolt of power go through him and then his world went dark.

Then lights in the building went extremely bright around him and then dimmed. Sparks flew from his body when he twitched.

"He's still breathing, hang on, help is on the way!"

The electrical pulse danced through the building. Huge ramifications would occur suddenly.

* * *

><p>"So what do you think?" Harry asked Gwen. He held her hand tightly. The glint of red coming off of his watch shined in the light of the lab.<p>

"Well it's just like you said, it's very odd," Gwen responded back.

Harry used a USB flash drive to copy over the genetic information. It could be useful for him to look over before. He wondered how the greatest minds OsCorp had to offer overlooked something like this.

Or maybe they didn't, but they couldn't figure out the key that bound them together. Harry would have to figure that out later. He settled for downloading the data to the flash drive and perusing it later at his own leisure. Perhaps he could figure out what the missing puzzle piece is.

The lights flickered for a second when Harry removed the flash drive. At first he thought absolutely nothing of it.

Then there was a huge explosion from an electrical pulse and the tank that contained the spiders exploded. This action caused a shower of glass and genetically altered spiders filled the room.

Harry's super heightened senses allowed him to spin Gwen around and use his back to shield her from the majority of the impact. He managed to also shield himself from a lot of it as well. His back got sliced up decently from the impact.

"Harry!" Gwen yelled and she was past the point of freaking out. She clutched Harry's hand tightly and looked into his eyes.

"I'm fine, really I'm fine," Harry managed, feeling his wounds sting. He put on a face that indicated that he was fine.

Gwen wasn't really fooled by it for a second. It almost distracted her from the fact that she got showered in spiders as well. That caused her to start breathing in heavily and very nearly freak out.

Calm breath, deep breath, calm down.

One of them shifted on her shoulder and Gwen panicked ever so slightly. It moved over and got panicked, biting her collarbone.

Gwen screamed, she screamed hard. Not so much because of the fact that the spider bit her, even though that didn't really help her to be honest. It was due to the fact that the bite stung something fierce. She wasn't sure if this was even your normal spider bite and the Oz formula flowing through its veins caused her to go rigid.

Harry would have screamed as well if he didn't have his own worries and needed to keep a cool head. He barely noticed the spider biting him between the shoulder and the neck. The only visible reaction Harry gave was a slight gasp.

Gwen's pupils dilated and she violently went into a seizure. Harry watched her reaction and he knew that he had to act quickly.

"Hang in there, Gwen," Harry whispered to her.

Harry did the best that he could to stabilize her until he could get her some place safe to be the proper treatment. He couldn't even begin all the consequences of a genetically enhanced spider bite.

He realized that she needed medical attention and in the worst way. There was only one problem, and that was all the power of the building was out. He didn't really notice because of his good eyesight. However he stood in complete and utter darkness.

He was going to have to make a split decision as to what to do. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and teleported her away from the lab.

The lab was silent, most of the spiders perished from the explosion. Even the two that bit Gwen and Harry were dead, their bite to these two humans being their final act of defiance.

The destruction at the lab of Curt Connors would be a problem that would have to await another day, for there were far more problems that they had to deal with.

OsCorp plunged into utter darkness and it was hard telling if anyone else suffered any accidents. Once Harry got Gwen away, his own concern was her. He figured that it would be the responsibility of others to sort everything else out.

* * *

><p>Doctor Curt Connors returned to his lab at a dead run. In the middle of the meeting he had, the power completely blacked out at the lab. While he understood that there was someone who was working on the power, he didn't think with the way that things were set up the entire lab would have blacked out.<p>

He quickened his pace and he could see people evacuated out of the building.

"It's the Electrician, he's not responsive," one of the other scientists said. Connors tried to get through but he was trapped.

With the bottleneck in the hallway, he wouldn't be able to make his way up to his lab anytime soon. He needed to make sure everyone was okay.

Connors mentally thought of the consequences that a sudden and unexpected power outage could cause. The computers should be safe, because they were surge protected. It would take a lot of power to mess with some of the experiments.

"There was an explosion down there, the Eels are on the floor!" one of them said, watching the last of the EMTs disappear down the hallway. Others reached the electrician already.

"Everyone stand aside, we're not going to lose this one."

Connors saw one of the EMTs preform CPR on Dillon. He was in a state where he wasn't moving.

The utility room was trashed, and there was no telling what the consequences of this accident ended up being.

"One more time, he has a faint heart beat, I can feel a pulse…"

"But the pulse is fading, it's like he is shorting out," one of the EMTs declared.

Connors frowned, but he couldn't do that much.

"Get the paddles out and clear."

The paddles stuck to the chest of Maxwell Dillon. Using the defibrillators, they shocked him.

"One more time, and clear!"

Another shock and Dillon's eyes snapped back open. He started coughing madly. His body went into a seizure and he could barely hold himself up. The shivers blew over his body.

The lights came back on in the building the moment that he was brought back to life. They were too relieved to see that he had been brought from the edge of certain death.

Connors wasn't the only one who breathed a sigh of relief.

"We're doing a full evacuation of the building, everyone is out by now."

Connors realized that checking on the state of his lab will have to wait. He assumed that Gwen had gone out to lunch, which she planned to do after she got the work done for him. Therefore he didn't have to worry.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued On December 1<strong>**st****, 2014. **

**Nothing of note happens in this chapter. Well except for that one big thing that happens. **

**Oh, chemicals, that never ends well. **

**Shorter chapter, which has to be done. I do not want to hear one single complaint about the length. The chapter was as long as it needs to be. Period. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five.**

* * *

><p>The inheritance Harry received from the Evans line after his mother died had ensured that the Parker family never needed to worry about finances. The basement area or what was once the basement area was converted into a moderately sized suite which he currently lived in. On the other hand, Peter's old room was converted into a laundry room with a washer, dryer, and the works.<p>

Harry held Gwen up close to him when he returned to his bedroom suite. She still obviously felt some of the adverse effects from the Spider Bite. In fact she shook quite madly, almost foaming at the mouth when she was shifting against him.

"Easy, easy, Gwen, we're almost there," he whispered in her ear. He tried, potential in vain, to reassure her.

The problem was that he wasn't too certain if she could hear him or not. He would find out one way or another soon enough.

Harry placed her on the bed and did what he could to further stabilize her. The thing was that he didn't want her injuring herself in any way. That included biting her tongue off which she could be in danger of doing.

Her shakes increased in intensity and her arms thrashed and moved. The blonde was shaking madly. The bed was up against the wall. Harry was surprised when her arm jerked back and she put her fist against the wall damaging it.

Harry stopped a picture from falling off of the bedside table. It depicted him around thirteen years of age. It had him standing next to a blonde girl of about the same age. They stood in front of a crystallized tower with a red sun partially visible in the background, although you would have to have good sight to pick it out.

Harry made sure the picture was safe because it had particular sentimental value to him, one of his many adventures. He wondered if she made it. She said that it was doomed and that might have been twenty years ago based off of how time and space worked.

He turned his attention back to Gwen and her arms continued to twitch and shake with each other when it nearly got put through the wall again. Then she relaxed and started up again without warning. That was curious and Harry got on top of her, straddling her. He held her arms down by the shoulders, to try and make sure she stay stabilized.

The blonde squirmed underneath his form, but he managed to hold her down. The fact that she offered up so much resistance was surprising, given the enhanced strength that Harry had naturally.

Harry briefly wondered why he wasn't having the same reaction. He would have to figure that out in a matter of moments. The best that he could tell it was because that he had a natural immunity due to his other powers. That was just a shot in the dark as far as he was concerned.

"Easy, Gwen, easy, it will be okay," Harry whispered in her ear. He held her down with his right arm, the crystal on his red watch glinting in the light.

Again, it was up to debate whether or not she heard him. He swore that he saw the slightest flash of recognition.

Finally her body cooled down to the point where she was not thrashing about. Harry felt a bit of relief. He reached up and touched her forehead.

She was running a high fever. It didn't appear to be anything that was life threatening, but that didn't mean that she was out of the woods just yet. She could be in danger of losing her hearing because of the extremely high fever.

Harry could see that her shakes stopped and he moved over, turning on the computer at the bedside desk. Right on the floor in plain sight was a Paramedic Grade Kit.

He felt on pins and needles, almost as if he was expecting some kind of delayed reaction. Just because the spider bite didn't hit him straight away, it didn't mean that it wasn't going to come much later.

Harry closed his eyes and allowed a momentary sigh to escape his mouth. He needed to stop being so paranoid and just figure out what he had to do next.

He slid the jacket off of his shoulders and the spider that bit him fell out. It hitched a ride on the way there. It was dead now, and he was pretty sure that the spider that bit Gwen meant the same fate.

Unhooking the latch from the first aid kit, Harry removed a needle, and also he summoned over a vial of blood. A syringe was pulled out as well.

He gave Gwen an injection to help stabilize her further. He felt her forehead and much to his relief, her slowly tapered down. He checked her again and felt her forehead. What was in that syringe was an invention of his own, that would stabilize most cold and flu symptoms, if not outright cure it.

Rose did help him come up with a lot formula and it was based off of his mother's notes. Harry realized that he was sitting on billions of dollars right there, a potential cure for the common cold. But it would need more testing to pan out.

And with modifications, it could cure other diseases, but that was down the line.

With that thought out of his mind, he touched the top of Gwen's forehead once more. She still felt warm, but not as warm. He counted to thirty in his mind and touched the top of her forehead again.

He took out a device to take Gwen's temperature and gently pry her mouth open. He stuck it underneath her tongue and waited.

It was the recommended temperature.

She reached up and subconsciously grabbed his hand, even though she was in state of sleep. She had a rather firm grip.

Harry allowed her to do it, because it would keep her from thrashing. He took a moment to sterilize the skin, and then took a sample of blood from Gwen.

He could tell right now that there was something a bit different about this blood than anything else. Harry took a sample of blood from himself as well.

While Gwen rested and her body recovered, it was time to get to work. Gently, Harry detached his hand from hers and prepared to get started.

There were many questions and not a sufficient enough of answers. He picked up the drive with the data that he had from OsCorp and frowned.

That could be useful in helping him determine what happened, making some side by side comparisons. He would have to run some tests on the blood in the meantime. Gwen's DNA was normal before then, or so he thought.

He would find out for sure in a matter of moments. Until then, he had too many questions and not enough answers.

* * *

><p>A woman sat with her back to the window in a computer chair. She currently sat in an Ultra-Modern Apartment in Europe. If one decided to turn down, they could see the Eiffel Tower easily from the floor they were on. So it was obvious that they were in Paris.<p>

The woman was in her early twenties and had extremely curly hair. She typed away at the keyboard, deep in her thought. There were a few scars on her face, hints of a past that she would long since want to put away. Without the scars, she wouldn't be noticed when she would walk through an airport, that much was for sure.

That being said, she typed, only able to feel the sensation of some of the keys when her fingers went across the keyboard. Most sensations, she was completely numb to, especially on her right arm, from the elbow on down. She had to re-learn to do everything with her left hand, although she received some strength back into her right arm after the years. Not much in the way of feeling though.

More souvenirs she acquired from a world that we should soon forget. She entombed herself in the work that she was doing, her only escape from the past.

The phone on the table near her desk rang and she frowned, bringing herself out of her work. She answered it after a couple of rings.

"Hello?" she asked in a clear and concise British accent. About the best thing she had going for her was the fact that she got her teeth fixed. "Oooh…I see…was anyone hurt….oh…..how bad exactly was the damage…..yes they're here…..yes…..I'll tell them…no…..I'm sure that they'll call you soon enough."

The woman placed both hands on her desk, and pulled herself to her feet, closing her eyes. This was the worst part for her. She was in a wheelchair for almost three years before she learned how to walk again. The feeling below her waist came back but she wished that it didn't. It was replaced by a gripping pain all over her body.

Her left leg hurt during times of cold weather, not as a bad as yesterday, but worse than it felt two days ago. She reached over and picked up her cane to help steady herself.

The woman walked with a painstaking limp. It was obvious that the cane was needed. The fact that she was somewhat mobile after all she been through proved how much she fought through great adversity.

She raised her free hand once she reached the door and knocked on it. The woman waited like an obedient dog waiting for its master to call her in.

"Yes, come in."

She turned the door knob, her hand slipping from it once. She had to do everything manually without any usage of her special powers. It made her extremely humbled.

The young woman gimped inside, and saw Peter Parker-Osborn sitting behind a desk. He dressed rather stylish in a black silk suit, and slacks. He made some careful notes on a pad that he had sitting on his desk, and was chatting with an older gentleman who was solidly built, around the area of his mid-forties.

The girl stood leaning against the cane, not daring to sit down without permission. This was especially true with this older man in the room.

Her eyes locked on Peter for a second and he cleared his throat. "Yes, what is it?"

Her boss stared at her and the woman took a moment to collect herself. Clearing her throat, the young woman relayed her message to him without taking a breath.

"I just received a phone call from Menkin, there was an accident involving an Electrician at one of the Bio Lands. It ended up blowing out the power in the entire building."

The man in the arm chair looked at the girl. He leaned forward and one could see that it was Norman Osborn, complete with his amazing cornrow style haircut.

"How bad was the damage?" he asked her curtly. He didn't even bother to give her permission to sit down and he knew that Peter was too busy mulling over what she said.

"The power in the building was blown completely out for about ten minutes, before it could be restored with the backup generation," she said without taking a breath. She was in awe at being acknowledge by Norman Osborn. He had authority that should be respected. "A fair amount of the equipment in that level was fried or blown up and their didn't seem to be too many injuries other than the Electrician, who's in a coma and it ended up shorting out the security system so the logs for the past twenty four hours have been wiped out completely."

Despite the fact that it was relayed to him in one nonstop run on sentence, Norman got every word of it. Then again, he prided himself as a great genius that would be able to decipher this girl's inane babblings as she tripped over her tongue.

He scowled and pushed himself to his feet to face her. Ignoring the fact that she still seemed to be in awe because of him despite his look of disinterest, he made the orders that he needed to do. "Call, Menken back, and tell him we'll be back to deal with this personally. Then call our pilot and tell him to prepare the Jet, now."

The girl nodded in response, eager to please and help. The cane nearly slipped out of her hand but she held onto it.

Peter frowned and added as an afterthought. "In addition, tell Menken that the company will cover the man's medical bills, full, and send flowers to him."

Norman looked at his son like he had grown two heads.

"It will be good for PR," Peter commented and Norman understood him.

The businessman nodded in agreement. Norman left the room, barely even acknowledging the girl that was standing there, because his use for her was done for the day.

It left the two of them alone in the room. The girl really wished for a nice soft chair because it felt like there was a pair of nice hot knifes jabbing into the back of her damaged leg.

"So, do you need anything else?" she asked, looking towards her boss.

Peter racked his brain for a second. "No, thank you, Hermione, but you should get packed after getting in touch with Menken."

Peter's assistant nodded and decided that now it was the time to take her leave. She closed her eyes and walked off. The trip back to her room might have been like a trip over flaming coals given how much misery she was in because of the weather.

She would need to get a drink and some pills to dull her nerves before she left.

* * *

><p>A couple of hours later, Harry crouched over a sheet of paper. It was the results of the blood test that he ran on both himself and Gwen. He scanned the paper and looked it over for a couple of moments. He took a moment to reach up and pinch the bridge of his nose when he decided to take his next maneuver.<p>

Making a split second decision, Harry reached over and grabbed the phone. He hit the speed dial and waited.

It took about a moment or two for the person that he was calling to pick.

"Hello?" a voice asked on the other end.

"Jean, it's me," Harry said.

"Oh, Harry!" Jean exclaimed in an excited voice. "How are you doing?"

"I wish that I was doing better," Harry told her. "But what's been going on with you."

Jean paused. "Oh, you know, the team is just doing the best that they can do. It won't be too long before we have to make a choice of how to proceed. Professor Xavier is taking the ultra pacifist view and you know how that goes."

"I have a good idea, but that won't last forever," Harry said.

"I know, both sides aren't looking that favorable right now," Jean agreed.

The rise of mutants could be an interesting thing in the world. There were some who knew enough to be concerned. And some people in high places that would exploit the potential fear of the unknown. Harry made plans to deal with preventing those flames to completely get stoked.

"So, are you coming over to the Institute any time soon?" Jean asked him.

Harry confirmed it for her. "Sooner than you think but I need your help. Something happened to Gwen."

"Oh?" Jean asked. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, there was an accident at the lab, I'll explain more, but she's doing okay," Harry answered back.

To her credit, Jean allowed this all to sink in. She was pretty sure that there was more to this than met the eye and Harry would tell her everything.

"I need to e-mail you something," Harry said. Jean made a noise which indicated that she understood what he was saying. "I need you to do me a favor and Hank take a look at it, if he can. It's the results of Gwen's blood tests that I've been running. I have a pretty good idea what could be going on, but it won't hurt to have an extra set of eyes looking at it."

"Okay, I'll pass it on to Hank when I get it," Jean said.

"Thank you very much," Harry said. It was just then he noticed Gwen stirring awake. The blonde was coming back into a state of being awake. "I'll let you go, Gwen's waking up."

"Oh, okay, I'll see you later," Jean said. She sounded excited about the prospect of seeing him extremely soon.

She did sound kind of breathless and Harry was pretty sure that he caught her just outside of training.

"Tell everyone that I said hi," Harry told her.

"Yeah, do the same for Gwen with me," Jean told him in response. "Okay, I've got to go, bye."

"Bye, Jean," Harry responded to him and he put down the phone.

He turned around and saw Gwen stir. She stretched and looked like she felt completely light head. The blonde responded in a strangled voice. "Harry?"

Harry smiled and got up to his feet to check on her. He didn't have that far to go.

"Hey, sleeping beauty," Harry said, placing his hand on hers calmly. She smiled and looked at him. "How are you feeling?"

"Hungry," Gwen said in complete blunt honesty.

In response to that statement, her stomach rumbled. He chuckled and reached forward. He took her hand and helped her up to her feet.

Gwen felt a bit better than she was earlier. Given how she felt earlier, that wasn't really saying that much. However after she slept this off, the only thing that she felt was the hunger pangs.

"So, do you remember anything?" Harry asked her.

Gwen racked her brain as they reached the kitchen. She helped herself to a lot to eat, almost practically cleaning the fridge out. She was hungry, she couldn't understate that point or say it clearly enough.

"Well," Gwen said, taking a huge bite of the sandwich that she made. One of them at least. "I…..just remember the spider biting me, and…..everything after is a complete and uttery blank."

"So you don't remember putting a hole through my wall?" Harry asked her in amusement.

Gwen blinked and shook her head. "I must have been pretty much out of it."

One thing that she needed to do was shove food in her mouth. Her body felt a little bit sore, as if she hadn't eaten in about a week. Remembering that her hands likely weren't an edible source of food, Gwen continued to eat.

"So, you've changed, after it bit you," Harry said.

Gwen paused, stopping eating long enough to ask a question. "Changed, it what way?"

Harry was only to happy to explain after consulting his results.

"In your case, you had an X-Gene, a latent one," Harry explained to her. "It never had a chance to activate, although I'm sure that it might have before too long."

Gwen belched and shook her head. "Sorry."

"No problem, it happens," Harry said chuckling, and he continued. "So anyway, the X-Gene got overwritten when the spider bit you. I'm not sure exactly what your new power set is. Given what bit you, I'll hazard to guess that it has to do with a spider of some sort."

That caused Gwen to completely shudder from head to toe. That was a piece of good news, given that spiders gave her a case of the wiggums.

"In my case," Harry said, and Gwen turned to him in interest.

"Oh that's right, you got bit as well, but you didn't go into a full seizure state," Gwen commented and Harry smiled.

"Exactly, in my case, I am already a mutant, therefore my system fought it like an infection."

Gwen was caught off guard. That was news to her but she should have expected that something was different about Harry. Then again, there were a few things that she might not have known about Harry.

Her curiosity was getting the better of her.

"So what…" Gwen said. She stopped and Harry gave her a questioning look. She polished off the last of the sandwich. "Sorry."

"You want to ask about my power set, that's understandable," Harry said and he quickly rattled off what he knew. "Enhanced strength, speed, and agility, and I also have a minor level of telepathy, where I can hear people's thoughts when I make eye contact with them. I also have a healing factor. Teleportation too, although technically part of my other gift."

Gwen frowned. "What other gift?"

"Magic," Harry told her with a smile on her face.

He demonstrated and conjured a full size ice sculptor of Gwen. The blonde followed the progress of his creation. She blinked and it wasn't there, and now it was.

Then he blinked and he set it on fire. Something that shouldn't be possible to have ice set fire like that and stay burning without melting. With magic, anything was possible.

Gwen's eyes widened and she looked like a kid on Christmas morning. There was only one thing to say with what she saw. "Whoa."

"Fire takes a lot of control, as idiot shave been known to burn down whole villages by not being able to control this spell," Harry said. With one simple movement, he cancelled both spells.

"I can tell," Gwen commented, agreeing with that point. She shifted her arms together and nodded. "But then again a lot of idiots play with fire without magic and they get themselves burned."

Harry smiled and leaned in close to her. Gwen could feel him against her, his hands rested on her side.

"It can be amazing, but it can make a person lazy," Harry said and his hands inched up a little bit.

Gwen returned fire and ran her hands up. "So use at your best discretion."

"Precisely," Harry agreed with him, and the two of them grew even closer. Harry leaned in to examine her. "You got something on your lips."

'_Oh, I'll have something on my lips later, alright,' _Gwen thought to herself and Harry ran his finger across her lips.

Now that her physical hunger was satisfied, there was another type of hunger that filled her mind. Her hormones drove her nuts, even more so than any other teenage girl might have on a normal day. The blonde temptress breathed in and breathed out heavily, biting down on her lip.

"So, what are we going to do now?" Gwen asked.

Harry smiled, there would come a moment. He ate what little food that she left him.

"Sorry, I think that I didn't leave you that much," Gwen said and she leaned forward, caressing his cheek, and then she moved down to his neck. She wrapped her arms around him, pressing her breasts against his side and she whispered into his ear. "I'll be sure to make it up to you later."

"I know that you will," Harry said. With his next move, he rested his free hand on the small of her back. "I have a couple of minor things to go over, if you don't mind."

Gwen gave a devious and sultry smirk. "Oh, Harry, you can go over anything that you like with me."

Hormones could be the most dangerous power in the universe. At least that was the scientific conclusion that she slowly came to.

* * *

><p>They returned to Harry's room and now were sitting down on the bed. Both of them sat side by side, with Gwen dressed in a tight white blouse that seemed to be a lot less snug this morning, along with a nice skirt that seemed an inch or two longer today. Not that she minded. Her panties soaked to her body at the thought of what Harry could do to her. She also wore a pair of extremely lacy stockings because she knew for a fact that Harry and a leg and a foot fetish.<p>

Harry's arm wrapped around her as she turned closely towards him. Her shoes slipped off onto the ground and she rested the heel of one of her stocking covered feet on his crotch.

"Your stamina was much weaker when I took your blood earlier, and now it's increased now that you have some fuel in the tank," Harry told her. He tried in vain to ignore her foot brush up against him.

His hormonal drive shot up to about the strength of fifteen normal teenage boys. When previously it had been something like seven or eight because of his power level. It made him rethink that the spider bite didn't affect him.

"And you might be giving off some kind of pheromones that will ensnare anyone who encounters them that you're attracted to," Harry said.

Gwen smiled and her hair flipped over her face. She slid her head band off and put it on the night stand and smiled.

"Do they ensnare you Harry?" Gwen asked him, rotating her heel onto him with a smile on her face.

"We're not going to get anything constructive done, are we?" Harry asked her.

"Oh, I'm sure that you can test my stamina," Gwen said, shifting herself around, slowly sliding her feet off of his lap. With her next motion, she was upon his lap, doing the splits on it. "And my flexibility, you can't forget that."

Harry leaned her back where she was and kissed her fiercely on the lips. She returned the favor just as eager, when she bent back, allowing Harry full access to her neck.

"Oh yes, very flexible," Harry whispered to her when he pushed his hand underneath her skirt, feeling her legs a little bit.

"Play with me Harry, please, I'm so horny," Gwen begged him, biting down on her lip.

Harry smiled, sliding his hands underneath her blouse, and he braced himself to go in for the kill.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued On December 3rd, 2014.<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>So, Gwen has some side effects from her powers. Thankfully Harry was there, although things could get nasty otherwise. <strong>

**Am an idiot for assuming that the reason why the spider didn't effect Harry is obvious? Likely. Just like I'm an idiot for assuming that people would piece together the context clues that Rose was the one that taught Harry anything about magic. Harry didn't go to a magic school because you see...we actually want him to be able to use magic. **

**He'll only use it when it's necessary. Just like he'll only be out in the field when absolutely necessary. Harry is semi-retired as a super hero when this stories started and there's some kind of past with the X-Men that was kind of eluded to in this chapter.  
><strong>

**Peter, you get what you get when you hire your assistants off of Craigslist. I may or may not be exaggerating. Why her? Someone disposable for plot related reasons. And someone that Harold "One Harry Limit" Osborn can actually assert himself against. **

**How she got screwed up, well that may be an interesting story. One could say, "oh yeah, the troll", until your realize that Voldemort got wiped out by Lily's ritual. No Voldemort, no stone(hell, if you want to get technical, no stone considering that Harry Potter is dead and there's no need for Dumbledore to test Harry, if you fall into that line of reasoning). No Voldemort, no stone, no Quirrel, no troll. Although something really nasty happened that's unspeakable. It may never be spoken of. I have my own theory of what happened but I'm not about to say it out loud(or rather in writing). **

**Jean shows up which is always good. **

**Should be obvious who is in the picture, but it will sadly be a while before she shows up in the flesh.  
><strong>

**Gwen and Harry put Gwen's powers to the test, which is all kinds of fun. Whoever had five chapters in the pool, your fake gold statuette is in the post. Although these things have been known to get lost. No refunds. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six:**

* * *

><p>It was later that night, one could say that it qualified for being much earlier in the morning. Regardless of the fact, it was sometime much later, after Gwen and Harry drifted off to sleep after their marathon session.<p>

Gwen Stacy stood in the bathroom, having just used it. It was adjacent to Harry's bedroom so the walk wasn't really that far away. The blonde crossed her arms underneath her chest and leaned back so she could properly stretch. She stood before the mirror wearing nothing, but a pair of stockings. There were also a few questions that lurked in the back of her mind that she tried to answer to the best of her abilities.

There were changes, she knew that. She didn't really have a chance to hash out all of those changes due to the fact that she had been preoccupied with Harry. Hormones really drove her completely and absolutely nuts to be honest. It drove her nuts to the point where any rational thought just flew out the window and away from her.

Gwen pushed her hair out of her face and a lengthy sigh escaped from her mouth. She focused on herself in the full mirror and the changes that occurred to her were completely obvious.

It wasn't anything outrageous to be honest. She thought that it would be something a bit more. She certainly felt that she was different. That being said, Gwen recognized how the changes went, when she looked in the mirror.

First she shot up a few inches, that was the most obvious change. Her legs got a bit longer, thus that accounted for the fact that her skirt was riding up more on her last night. Her muscle tone increased and her breasts were a bit fuller.

Gwen slowly felt herself up when she looked in the mirror. These changes really should have been obvious last night. The curves she had was a far bit more prominent. It was no changes that were going to stand out too much.

At least not yet, and Gwen realized one thing. Her eye sight was completely and utterly perfect. Her contacts were removed the moment that Harry brought her back here and she didn't notice that they were missing until now.

She wouldn't need glasses or contacts right now. Of course, she could easily still pass herself off of wearing contacts because that's what she had been wearing mostly over the last year.

'_Still, it's not like anyone is going to know the difference,' _Gwen thought to herself, amusement brimming through her thoughts.

Her hands rested on her hips when she got a full view of herself in the mirror. Gwen checked herself for any obvious physical enhancements. The only changes were the ones that she discussed, at least the ones that could be obvious by the naked eye. And with the best fitting clothes possible, that wouldn't even be that obvious to be honest.

Gwen also noticed one other thing and she smiled thinking about it. Her stamina shot up to a new level, and her flexibility increased. She made a joke about having to test that. It wasn't so much of a joke the more that she thought about it.

She should be sorer than she was now, on the account that she was a virgin. Gwen didn't have any personal experience for the obvious reason. This was her first time.

'_Must be some kind of healing factor,' _she thought to herself, frowning in deep concentration. That was the best explanation that she could come up with.

And her first time was an extremely satisfying experience. Every time should be even more satisfying now that her body was more accommodated to it, powers or not.

That was something that registered a smirk on Gwen's face. The smirk grew even wider yet when she exited the bathroom.

Gwen's bright eyes focused on the bed that Harry was sleeping on. A mischievous plan began to form into the back of Gwen's plan. Something that she would have thought twice about a day ago. Now, she felt particularly daring.

The blonde edged over towards the bed and swung her hips. She realized how much that she used to have to adjust her eyesight to the light.

'_Oh, this just keeps getting better and better,' _Gwen thought to herself. With a swift movement, she threw her legs over Harry, straddling his sleeping form.

Gwen decided that this would be a better way for her to wake him up than just waking him up. Her lips found his with a passionate kiss, where her lower lips prepared to kiss something that was further on down.

Harry's eyes opened up and he placed his hands on her back suddenly. Gwen tried to exert some level of domination in an attempt to get the better of Harry.

Without a word, Harry enjoyed her teasing him for a moment. She thought that she had the better of this exchange. She was going to be proven wrong. He grabbed her around the hips and shifted her back onto the bed.

Seconds later, Gwen cursed and realized that she was underneath Harry. She was trapped, her legs spread underneath him.

"So, I think that someone is feeling pretty frisky this morning," Harry said; he ran his finger down her cheek and then past her collarbone.

Gwen shivered when she realized that Harry's hands inched further down her body. They rested underneath her breasts. They didn't cup them yet, but they came inches away from doing so. She thought that she could and potentially would lose her mind.

"I think that we should get a jump start on running some more tests to ensure the limits of my stamina," Gwen said and she bit down on her lip. "You know, just to make sure."

"Oh, I'm sure that you're just wanting to make sure," Harry said and he leaned in to whisper in her ear. "And for the record, just to let you know, you're going to have to get up awful early in the morning to dominate….me….any….time."

Each word was emphasized and Gwen understood where he was going with this one. She felt her body heat up. He only was an inch inside of her and that was enough for her body to burn for more.

"So, what do you say we get on with those tests?" Harry asked her.

"YES!" Gwen moaned, and she was feeling tortured.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked and the look of burning desire in her eyes was enough to prompt him to slide into her.

* * *

><p>A very exquisite private jet landed down at a New York airport. It could be very obvious that the people who were on the Jet were among the most well off and the richest in the world. It was rather early in the morning so there was pretty much no one around to see it.<p>

The first man off of the jet was Norman Osborn. He walked off of the jet in a stiff manner, his eyes focused rigidly in front of him. He crossed his arms when he kept his forward movement. A briefcase dangled from his hands.

Next Peter Parker-Osborn walked off and he was extremely calm and talking about something.

"So, we can spin this and make sure that OsCorp comes out clean," Norman told him. "If the electrician makes a full recovery, then we can find his price to get him not to go to the press with his story."

"It was an accident though, it can happen to anyone," Harold Osborn suggested as he staggered off of the plane, carrying a large bag.

"Yeah, it can happen to anyone, if they're not paying attention to what they're doing," Norman said, watching Harold nearly trip "And don't embarrass yourself and don't say anything when we're there. Let Peter and me do all of the talking."

"But I can…"

"Given the fact that you had to settle for a public school, I'm not too confident about your ability to string two words together," Norman told Harold with contempt. He didn't even bother to give him any help with his bag.

"I've tried hard…"

"To try means you're just on the level of a special needs child," Norman said in a snappy voice. "An Osborn succeeds. Perhaps if you can be more like your brother, you might be able to accomplish something with your life."

Harold clenched his fists together and he was trying to breath in and out. He was so sick and tired of hearing about that. How he should be better than he was. How he should be Peter!

He was about ready to retort that if his old flesh and blood was so flawed, then that was a flaw because of Norman Osborn and no one else. Harold Osborn didn't have the guts to do such a thing even though he thought about it. Oh he really thought about it. He really thought about it.

Harold looked over his shoulder and he saw Peter's assistant make her way down the steps with each step causing her pain. No one bothered to help her out of the plane; Norman and Peter were discussing something, so they were preoccupied.

As for Harold, well he didn't care for her too much.

"Menken should be arriving in a few moments, shouldn't he?" Peter asked Norman and Norman nodded his head roughly in response.

"Yes, he was told to pick us up," Norman said. "We need to get back to OsCorp and assess the damage, and also assess if anything of value had been lost."

The backup systems were completely online and that allowed them to preserve much of what they had there.

The assistant made her way down the steps, her knee nearly buckling underneath her. It was a cool morning so her damaged leg really was buggered.

The eyes of the brunette shifted when she saw Harold Osborn's bag shifting from his arms. The girl took pity on him, and tried to help him secure the bag.

Harold allowed the bag to slip into her hands completely, and forced her to carry it. She gave a pained gasp and a scowl, when she tried to balance the bag, along with her walking stick.

"Here he comes around the corner," Peter pointed out and Norman frowned.

"He better have a good excuse for being this late," Norman whispered in his harshest tone in his voice.

There was a loud thump behind them and Peter's assistant fell to the ground, underneath the weight of the bag.

Norman's eyes diverted on her with a critical view. "Get up."

She struggled to get up to her feet. Peter walked over towards her and extended his hand to help her up.

"You need to be more careful," Peter said, helping his assistant to his feet.

Norman was almost certain that this particular young woman milked a lot of her handicap. She just seemed like the type of person who would want to get attention in front of a big crowd.

The limo pulled up and the door opened, with Donald Menken poking his head out.

"You're late," Norman said in a critical voice and he stared the man down.

"My apologies, sir," Menken told him in a silky voice.

"Don't apologize, just get the bags into the back, and get us to OsCorp," Norman told Menken, and he watched the brunette shove Harold's oversized bag into Menken's arms.

"What the hell is in this thing?" Menken grumbled.

"That isn't your concern, just put it in the trunk," Harold said in a snappy voice. "I'll be back in a minute."

His father ignored that bit of interplay and he turned to Peter. Despite the fact that Peter was the preferred son, he was not immune to Norman Osborn's critical and often harsh tongue.

"You need to be more careful with your charity cases, they'll expect it if you help them too often," Norman told Peter underneath his breath. "It's like a dog begging for a handout. You give it to them once, and they keep coming back. Eventually, you're going to need to put a bullet through its head because it's weak and pathetic, and can't do anything for itself."

"She's useful," Peter muttered underneath his breath, so only Norman could hear him.

"You can do better, son," Norman told him.

"Nothing like that," Peter said in a stoic voice.

"I see," Norman said and he turned around, realizing that Menken was watching. "Get us to OsCorp."

Peter and his assistant were already in the limo, and Norman followed him.

"What about your son?" Menken asked.

"Leave him there," Norman answered him. "If he can't be ready to go when it's time to leave, then it's his fault."

Menken didn't argue with him and they drove back to OsCorp.

Harold disappeared for a moment to use the restroom and when he returned, they had left him stranded in the middle of the airport parking lot.

"Well that's fucking great," Harold groaned and he wanted to slam his fist into something and hard.

It wasn't the first time that he was stranded in the middle of somewhere to teach him a lesson. The two bodyguards on the plane were the only two that were left with him.

"My father went off again without me, didn't he?" Harold asked and the bodyguard nodded in response.

This was really not his day. Actually this was worse than not being his day, his day quite frankly sucked in more ways than one. He couldn't even begin to count the ways regarding how much his day sucked.

* * *

><p>The sweet smells of breakfast woke up Harry and Gwen after their latest round of love making. That had kept them preoccupied for a long time and they slowly woke up to those smells and those sensations. The two of them quickly got dressed in the clothes that were scattered around from the previous night. They all found their way into two separate piles throughout the course of the night which was kind of convenient.<p>

The two of them made their way to the kitchen and was greeted by the sight of Ben Parker who was sitting at the table eating breakfast. May puttered around in the kitchen, doing the various morning chores that went with running a house.

"Good morning, Harry, Gwen," Ben said and he raised his eyebrow. Gwen's presence raised a few questions that he felt that he was better off not knowing the answer.

"Good morning," Harry said with a smile, and he walked over, giving his mother a kiss on the cheek

"Good morning, Mr. Parker, Mrs. Parker," Gwen said in a jovial voice and she parked herself down on a seat of the table, with Harry taking the seat next to her.

"Good morning to both of you as well, we're going to have to go to the store later, we're about out," May said.

Gwen gave a sheepish grin in response, but it was missed when she fixed her face into a stoic and calm expression. She ravenously took the offering of pancakes that had been taken down.

Ben chuckled. "Well someone was in desperate need of breakfast this morning."

Both Ben and May brushed off the fact that Gwen was here. Again they figured that Harry and Gwen were responsible enough that they didn't have to worry about things, at least they didn't have to worry about things too much.

"You know Gwen, I'm pretty sure that my hand isn't an edible source of food," Harry said, deciding to help himself to some of the pancakes.

Ben yawned.

"A long night," Harry said calmly.

"You don't know the half of it," Ben told him, shaking his head. "I need to go ahead and drive May to work, and then head off to bed."

That was right, their shifts were like two ships passing in the night sometimes. They took Gwen being here in fair enough stride and it lead to a fairly easy conversation.

"The two of you take care of yourself, and if you need anything, there's more pancakes," May said to them, and Gwen looked very excited about that prospect.

Once May and Ben were gone, Harry looked completely thoughtful about that fact.

"We should run some tests and figure out what you're capable of," Harry told her.

Gwen smiled. "That's a good idea. We should go over to Mary Jane's….and see if she has some workout clothes and an outfit that I can wear later."

The outfit that she wore was growing extremely snug around her body, even with the modifications that Harry added on it through the magic of magic. The two of them finished up completely and cleared up.

It wasn't that long of a walk over to Mary Jane's because she lived next door. Both Harry and Gwen walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.

A silver haired kindly woman entered the door. "Oh, Harry, Gwen….it's good to see both of you again?"

"Hello, Mrs. Watson, is Mary Jane in?" Harry asked her.

Anna Watson nodded in confirmation for this. "Yes, you want me to go get her?"

"Yes, please," Harry agreed with her and Anna Watson turned around.

Almost moments later, Mary Jane made her way down the steps. She wore a black top and designer blue jeans along with a stylish pair of boots. She wore a pair of eyeglasses this morning, having not put her contacts in because it wasn't a school day.

"Gwen, Harry!" Mary Jane squealed and she rushed over to give both of them a hug.

She blushed slightly when she pulled her way and she stood up straight to them, shaking her head.

"It's good to see you as well, MJ," Harry told her and Gwen confirmed that with a bright smile.

"So what can I do for you today?" Mary Jane asked her.

"Gwen needs an outfit and some workout clothes for today, you might have noticed that she hit a bit of a growth spurt," Harry told her.

Mary Jane frowned and she looked at Gwen. She noticed and when she noticed, she couldn't exactly turn away from the beautiful blonde that was in front of her. The redhead cleared her throat suddenly.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that I'll have something that will fit her," Mary Jane said to them. "So, how are things going at OsCorp?"

Gwen and Harry discussed what they were working on at OsCorp recently to her. They wondered if the accident had even hit the news yesterday. It would have been a miracle if it didn't.

"I heard that there was an accident yesterday, I'm glad to see neither of you were hurt," Mary Jane said and she rifled through her closet, thoughtfully with a critical eye.

"Believe us, we're just as glad as you are that neither of us were hurt," Harry told her and she laughed in amusement. "The truth was that both of us were out for lunch and we missed everything by the time we got back."

Mary Jane didn't really see any reason to why this wouldn't be the case.

"Let's see what we've got for you….oh I think that this would work nicely," Mary Jane said, nearly bouncing up and down in amusement. She stopped. "And this would be in your size…..you can try this on if you want…..my bathroom is right next door."

Gwen walked into the bathroom to try on the clothes, she had a bit more of a spring to herself.

"So exactly what's up with her, there's something different," Mary Jane said to Harry and Harry smiled.

"That's Gwen's place to say, and not mine," Harry told her and Mary Jane let out her next statement in a lengthy whistle.

"Okay, fair enough," Mary Jane agreed, she wasn't going to pry any more than she had to.

Gwen returned from the room and walked over.

"So, how do I look?" Gwen asked her.

"You look amazing," Mary Jane said as she smiled and looked over Gwen.

"Yeah, you look good enough to eat," Harry said with a wink and he pulled her over with a smile and into a deep hug.

Mary Jane wondered if she could ask this question or if it would be considered a bit too personal to even pry this month. The redhead furiously fought with herself in the recesses of her mind.

"I guess the two of you are together," Mary Jane said.

"Yes, we spent the night together," Gwen said and she allowed Mary Jane's active imagination to begin to fill in the blanks as she wanted to.

"That's great, I'm happy for you," Mary Jane said in a bubbly voice, but she shook her head.

Was she disappointed a little bit? Maybe because she had a crush on Harry but if you snooze, you lose. Gwen was pretty on the ball in this situation.

"How about the three of us get together for dinner?" Harry asked her.

"I don't know, I wouldn't want to be a third way," Mary Jane said and Gwen roughly nudged her.

"Nonsense, we'd love to have you," Gwen commented, with a knowing smile and there was something about that expression that caused Mary Jane to shiver.

She wasn't going to argue too much about it. A free meal was a free meal.

* * *

><p>Harry and Gwen washed the dishes and now Harry found himself on Norman Osborn, who had called him.<p>

"Yeah, I heard about the accident," Harry informed to Norman. "I was out having lunch with my girlfriend when it happened, and by the time we got back, the building was underneath lockdown."

"It was a lucky break for you not to be in there at that time," Norman commented to him in his gruff tone of voice. There was absolutely no reason whatsoever not to accept this story. "So, what's the progress report on the project so far?"

"Well it was just like I told Otto Octavius, one of two things could happen," Harry explained to him. "If we can't stabilize the formula, it will horrifically mutate it, in the case of an animal."

"What about a human?" Norman asked him.

"That's the other thing, it will kill any humans, they can't handle the formula at all in its unstable state," Harry explained to him.

He decided to keep the fact that if someone had a latent X-Gene, they would be able to survive the formula. Harry figured that type of information would be on a need to know basis. Besides, Harry suspected that there would be a lot of questions.

"Everything will be back running by Monday, so you should be able to finish your work, and we can talk in person," Norman said to him.

"Okay fine, I'll see you then," Harry said and he put up the phone, saying his goodbyes to Norman Osborn.

Harry turned around and saw Gwen standing there. She wore a red and blue pair of spandex training shorts, along with a sports bra. She waited for him with her hands placed on his hips. With a grin on his face, Harry leaned in and gave her a small kiss.

"We're heading to the backyard for the tests," Harry explained to her with a nudge towards her. "I've converted a shed into a small gym, and we can do the same workout that I do, until we've reached your limits."

"Bring it on," Gwen said and the two of them walked to the backyard and reached the shd in question.

The two of them stretched and caused each other to be warmed up for a couple of minutes.

"Okay, you're nice a limber," Harry said and he bent her arms back, and stretched them. He ran his hands over the back of her legs and felt the tightness of her muscles.

"Yeah, I'm good," Gwen agreed.

The two of them did some basic weight training exercises. When Harry could see Gwen lifted up the weights like they were paper, he decided to switch tactics.

She was on the bench press and she lifted it up. Harry kept adding more weights to the bar until she couldn't lift it anymore.

Only she couldn't really reach this point.

"That's about as far as I can take you with the equipment that I have here," Harry said and he looked towards Gwen. "You're not breaking a sweat, are you?"

"No, not really," Gwen said and she lifted the bar up in an attempt to hold it in her hands. She smiled.

"It's something that I would have trouble lifting without help, so you're strength is growing," Harry said and he frowned. "But I don't think that you're going to hit your limits with anything that we have in this gym."

Gwen wasn't even having a work out to be honest. She felt a slight strain towards the end. It still wasn't a problem to be honest.

"We're going to have to find a way to further test your limits," Harry told her and she sat up. He placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a relaxing massage.

"What are you going to do?" Gwen asked to him. "Throw a car on top of me and see if I can lift it up?"

Harry smiled and continued to rub her shoulders. That caused a slight moan to escape from her lips.

"Something along those lines, but nothing that extreme," Harry informed her.

He did think about it and he had a few ideas. Whether they would work or not, he would have to check something.

* * *

><p>The trio of Harry, Gwen, and Mary Jane arrived for a night to the town. They were dressed in the nicest clothes possible.<p>

"Wow, a pretty nice place and not too pretentious nice either, I like it," Mary Jane said with a grin on her face.

"Well we wouldn't have any problems going through the front door," Harry said.

Since he dated Felicia, he knew the club scene extremely well. So he knew his way around and knew the places that were a hot spot out of town.

"Harry!" a voice shouted and Harry's eyes averted towards one Liz Allan with a smile on her face. "Gwen, MJ, it's good to see you."

Liz was standing there with Flash Thompson, who was dressed in what passed as nice clothes for him. He wasn't wearing his Varsity football jacket for once and if one had to be honest, he looked kind of naked and odd without it.

"Hey, Liz, how are you doing?" Harry asked her and Liz gave him a smile and she nodded in response. "Flash."

"Harry," Flash said in a gruff voice. He didn't want to cause any trouble. Mostly because Harry Evans-Potter would smack him back into line had tried anything.

Flash Thompson did have some of the common sense that had been gifted to the common mule, so he was able to keep his tongue.

"So, they're on again and off again thing is on again," Gwen muttered to Mary Jane out of the corner of her mouth.

"This week, but who knows what it will be like by the end of tonight," Mary Jane commented to Gwen with a smile on her face.

That was true and Gwen noticed that Liz was eying Harry up like he was a side of beef.

"So, how are you doing, Liz?" Harry asked her.

"Oh, I'm doing well, it's good to finally have some time out on the town," Liz said, placing her hands on her hips. "You yourself?"

"Oh, I've been keeping busy," Harry told her.

Liz's eyes fixated on both Gwen and Mary Jane who were looking at Harry. There was a second where she pieced together some kind of scenario in her mind about how Harry was keeping busy. Given that she was gifted by an overactive imagination, she dreamed up something interesting about how he was keeping busy.

"I see," Liz said to him.

"Come on Harry, I believe that you promised us a dance," Mary Jane said and she fluttered her eyelashes at them.

"And I promised MJ that she could have a piece of you first," Gwen said with a knowing smile when she looked back at Harry.

Harry laughed for a moment and he lead Mary Jane out onto the dance floor. He left Liz hanging there and Flash was saying something to her. Something that caused her to blow him off.

"So, I'm ready if you are," Harry said and he placed his hands around Mary Jane's waist.

The redhead smiled and Gwen folded her arms and legs against each other watching. She got to see Harry in action and she would have to say, that he was pretty good.

He finished the dance and dipped Mary Jane who smiled after it. She backed off and looked over her shoulder.

"Your turn," Mary Jane said with a smile to Gwen and Gwen walked over with a grin and acted like that she was going to dance with Mary Jane. "With Harry, you know."

"Oh, I knew, why don't you sit down and get a drink?" Gwen asked her.

"Yeah, it's on me," Harry said to her.

"Well, I'm hardly going to argue with that, aren't I?" Mary Jane asked and she sauntered over to do as she was asked.

That allowed Harry and Gwen to have their dance on the floor. Things got a bit more intense than the light hearted teasing that Harry was giving Mary Jane. Especially considering when Harry's hands got very busy, lighting touching the spots that Gwen wanted to be touched. Her thighs closed as she tried to hold back the rush of pleasure. She couldn't really think that she could do it that much.

Gwen's blood got pumping and she couldn't handle it any more. She walked over and said something to Mary Jane.

Harry raised his eyebrow and seconds later, Gwen scoped out a secluded spot. She grabbed Harry around the arm and lead him over.

Mary Jane was a bit behind them and she walked closer to them. She knew that Gwen and Harry went off to take care of something, and she was able to put it together rather easily. She was about on par to those two intelligent wise after all.

They didn't return for a while and she felt like she needed to walk closer to see if they would come back.

Mary Jane could see then and she watched Gwen's legs kick up in the air. She heard the grunts of pleasure.

The redhead's eyes widened, she wasn't sure that someone could really bend that way. But she was surprised.

'_How can that even fit?' _Mary Jane thought to herself and she subconsciously started to rub her thighs.

The moans and sounds were kept down but that added to the erotic appeal of the situation. Mary Jane watched her best friend and her crush get it on.

He pinned her against the wall and Mary Jane realized that her fingers were halfway in herself. She lifted her fingers up and slowly tasted herself.

She didn't realize that her fingers soaked themselves through that much.

Things were about to be intense and Mary Jane thought that she should really back off and not watch this. She was invading their privacy.

She couldn't completely pull herself away. Her breathing increased the more that she got into the show.

* * *

><p>Mary Jane wasn't the only person who caught a free view. Liz walked off after Flash bolted after an argument that they had. And since he was her ride home, she stranded was at the club. She saw Harry and Gwen walk off somewhere and she wanted to ask Harry for a ride home.<p>

She stopped and froze at what she saw. She watched him go into her and he fit it all into her.

Liz watched and could see the other voyeur watching off to the side. She wondered if either of them was noticed from where they were.

"Mmm," she muttered underneath her breath and she realized that she might have said things a little too much.

Liz quickly excused herself to head to the nearest bathroom, hoping she didn't knock over a chair in the process.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued On December 5<strong>**th****, 2014. **

* * *

><p><em>Oh those naughty voyeurs. What are we going to do with them? Surely future spankings may be in order.<br>_

_The OsCorp crew is obviously established. Norman is Norman and he tends to be a bit of an opinionated ass towards people that don't meet his expectations. Peter is the most normal of the group but he chooses his battles wisely. Harold is...well he's got a lot of issues himself. Then there's Peter's assistant who Harold takes out his inability to please his father on. Menken is essentially the Smithers to Norman's Mr. Burns, although he's not gay for Norman. As far as we know. Not that's anyone's business but his.  
><em>

_Well obviously everything including the hormones got super powered. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven:**

* * *

><p>Peter, Norman, and Peter's assistant were sitting side by side each other after breakfast on Monday morning. They were having a meeting with the Board and Peter's assistant was taking notes regarding what was being said in the meeting.<p>

Donald Menken was doing what Donald Menken did and he was giving an immense damage report. "Several million dollars of damage, we lost one of the generators and several pieces of equipment. Some of the more fragile specimens ended up dying around the time that the equipment blew up around them."

Menken gave a brief spy as the room full of board members looked at him with critical eyes. There were no eyes that were more critical or more frigid than those of one Norman Osborn.

"The most galling of damages was the spiders exposed to the OZ1 formula, none of them could be recovered," Menken said in a somber voice. "The electrician suffered third degree burns over most of his body and is in critical condition. He lapsed in a coma."

Menken consulted his notes and he had more bad news to be added.

"Oh and the security footage and logs were lost over the past twenty four hours," Menken said. That was news that no one was pleased by. "This has been changed for twelve hours now to prevent this from happening in the future."

Menken decided to dig another knife into their productivity.

"And anyone who didn't back up their files or work lost it in the blackout, and we lost a lot of work," Menken said.

Norman Osborn made a mental note to let go anyone who would be stupid enough not to back up their work was a liability more so than anything.

"The accident was judged to because of human error, there for the insurance company will cover most of the damage," Menken said blandly.

There was the usual amount of loud squabbling amongst the majority of the board, there always was. Nothing was said that made Norman want shove an icepick through their collective skulls, at least not yet. He was sure that in the coming days, they would be discussing what to do. The solace he had was they didn't have the spines to try and displace him from the country.

"We're done here," Norman said and Peter nodded, when he followed Norman from the office. Peter's assistant followed him, and Menken brought up the rear.

Menken was allowed to go to his office and that left the trio to make their way to Norman's office.

"Years of work, down the drain, and a bunch of useless idiots who didn't back up their work," Norman grumbled and he was seeing red. "Find out who didn't, and make a note of who did it."

The brunette nodded in a stoic manner, adjusting the glasses that she wore, holding onto her cane. With practiced ease, she balanced the notes that she made.

"And summarize it next time," Norman said, looking over her notes with a critical eye. "I was there. I don't have a memory of a goldfish, and neither does Peter."

Peter was about ready to say something, but he never had a chance to. Rather they were greeted by a very impressive trio of men inside his office. One of which that Norman seemed pleased to see, the other two, less so.

Norman Osborn in a good mood might have been marginally scarier than Norman Osborn in a bad mood. His gaze rested on the young man who was right in front of him, a wide and wicked grin on his face.

"Harry, it's good to see that you can make it today," Norman said and his eyes traveled towards Otto and Connors when the two of them waited to be acknowledged. "I trust the two of you haven't lost any work in the recent blackout."

"No, it is all backed up," Otto said.

"It was an extremely near miss, but I managed to back up all of my work just the previous day," Connors told him and Norman's eyes flashed onto him.

He would expect nothing less out of two men of their stature. Norman Osborn expected them not to make a stupid mistake that even a high school student would have been able to think was a bad idea.

"So I trust the two of you have been keeping busy," Norman said, hoping to get this conversation out of the way before he got into the real main part of the meeting.

"Yes, I'm continuing work on the nanobot," Otto said to his boss.

If everything went as intended, it should be able to function as a targeted method to ensure that medicine and shots were intended to affect the areas they're meant to.

"And I'm continuing my work on the genetics," Connors said.

"I expect a more detailed progress report on my desk by the end of the week," Norman said. Just because of the recent tragedy, there was no excuse. "So we discussed the OZ formula briefly the other day, OZ3 as it has been dubbed."

"Well it's just like I told you over the phone," Harry said. Norman waited for a summary to make sure that they were on the same page. "The formula itself should work, but the problem is that much like the first generation of the formula, there is no clear and concise way to stabilize it."

Norman's deep frown crossed over his face. "I see. No way to stabilize it? Are you certain of that fact?"

"I'm absolutely positive of that fact," Harry confirmed. "But the second generation was stable at one point, was it not?"

"So, we are led to believe," Norman confirmed briskly.

"It was Richard Parker who was believed to have determined how to stabilize it," Connors commented to him. "But as you know, a lot of his secrets went beyond the grave to him."

There was a second where Peter narrowed his eyes.

"Otto told me," Harry said and the scientist nodded in agreement with him. "Lost forever, much like a lot of brilliant work."

"But a prodigy such as yourself would be able to finish the missing key, and I hope that you will be able to continue work on it despite the brief hiccup we've had," Norman said. The loss of the OZ enhanced spiders was a set back as they could hold the key. There wasn't even enough to salvage for an autopsy when they got into the lab.

"I've got to make my rounds around the building," Norman said. "Keep me posted on any progress."

He bid his goodbye and Norman left the office with the two other men, briefly walking to them before they went their separate ways. Peter looked at his assistant.

"Take the rest of the afternoon off, I'll call you if I need you," Peter told her and she looked at him. "Yes, I'm sure."

She nodded and walked out of the office.

"She's rather withdrawn around most people most of the time, something happened to her in Boarding School," Peter said. "At least that's the most that I've been able to get out of her. She was found beaten in the bathroom of her school and barely alive. She spent a year in a coma, and she had to relearn how to walk and talk. She still has to walk with a cane and she'll have those scars forever. Plus the nerve damage."

Harry allowed this to sink in.

"She has her uses," Peter commented, and Harry raised an eyebrow. "Not like that, even though it seems like every time that someone has a female personal assistant, there's going to be those rumors."

"Not saying anything, your business is your business," Harry said.

"Fair enough and same to you," Peter said, he didn't want to even discuss about half of the rumors regarding Harry. "So how about lunch?"

Harry didn't have any reason to disagree.

* * *

><p>Gwen and Mary Jane decided to take advantage of the lunch break they had by getting some shopping done before they went off to eat. Both of them looked rather stylish. Mary Jane's clothes looked more on the goth style, at least a bit darker than normal. It wasn't full on Goth though.<p>

There was another detail that Gwen noticed, a camera hung from Mary Jane's neck.

"So, what's the deal with the camera?" Gwen asked and then it hit her, answering her own question. "Oh you finally got it, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I'm working as an intern at the Daily Bugle under Betty Brant for the summer," Mary Jane said. She could barely contain her excitement.

"That's great, MJ!" Gwen said and she pulled her friend into half of a hug. The redhead relaxed underneath her grip for a moment. "I mean, it's been like a dream for this entire time, and now it's coming true."

"I can't wait for it to happen," Mary Jane said. She resolved not to rub her hands together. Otherwise she would resemble a supervillain. "So, you and Harry…"

"Well I think that it's obvious that we're dating," Gwen commented with a smile on her face.

Mary Jane raised an eyebrow. She knew for a fact that it was something more of dating. "So, the two of you are really dating."

"Again, as much could be obvious," Gwen said with a knowing smile.

Mary Jane wondered if she noticed, she couldn't know how Gwen would notice. She was the model of discretion, at least she thought that she was. She averted the line of questioning in another matter. "What exactly is up with him and Felicia?"

"They've called it a break because she's going to be over in Europe for at least the next six months," Gwen told her and she leaned in towards Mary Jane. "And besides, it was always an open relationship. Both of them agreed to see other girls, and most of the times it was the same girl."

That was an interesting bit of news that caused Mary Jane to blink in shock.

Gwen's arm grabbed around Mary Jane's firmly and the two of them went into a sports ware store. Gwen picked up a set of under armor style clothing that was red and blue. Mary Jane raised her eyebrow.

"Oh, that, I'm free running with Harry later today," Gwen said and Mary Jane raised her eyebrow. "Harry's been doing it for a long time, and I want to give it a try since it's something that the two of us together."

"It does seem like you're married half of the time," Mary Jane muttered underneath her breath, but Gwen heard it.

Gwen finished wrapping up her purchase and they were about ready to call it a day. Before they could do anything, a loud alarm rang. The alarm came next door to the jewelry store.

"COME ON HERMAN!"

Two criminals made their way out of the store. One of them was wearing a long coat, with short dark hair. The other criminal looked extremely unkempt, and unshaven.

Gwen made a snap decision and discreetly tripped up one of the criminals, the one who was wearing the longcoat. He flew head over heels and landed headfirst, crashing into a set of pins.

The unkempt criminal took a shot at them. A buzzing danger sense caused her to dodge the bullet. Gwen acted quickly, pulling Mary Jane out of the way.

The criminal in the long coat was down on the ground and the sound of police sirens could be heard. The other more unkempt criminal made a clean get away, but not before Mary Jane snapped a picture of the other criminal.

"Good thing that we didn't get shot," Gwen said.

Mary Jane frowned; Gwen wasn't discrete as she thought she was tripping up the criminal. "Yeah, that's good."

The police arrived, their guns on the criminal that didn't get away.

"Again, Herman?" one of the cops asked him, pointing his weapon at the man, who cursed underneath his breath in a matter that would make Yosemite Sam proud.

The other criminal got away, but neither Gwen nor Mary Jane thought much of it.

* * *

><p>Peter had to say that it had been a while since he and Harry had a pretty good chance to talk. They were fairly close when they were younger, but Peter got sent away to a boarding school overseas.<p>

"So you picked her up at Oxford," Harry replied.

"You make her sound like she's something that I found on a street corner," Peter said. Harry arched his eyebrow in response.

"You know what I meant," Harry told her and Peter shrugged his shoulders.

"Well I took her underneath my wing, it's remarkable that she actually made it that far, she had to re-learn how to do everything that attack at her boarding school," Peter continued. "That's about as far as I got with her. She's the type of person who doesn't like talking about her past."

"Fair enough," Harry said, he didn't really want to pry. He noticed that Peter had picked up a bit of a posh accent. It wasn't British, but it was of the high class end or at least what is the most stereotypically a high class accent.

"But speaking of which, what's been going on in your life?" Peter asked and he leaned back from where he was. "I mean, I've gotten bits and pieces of what happened, but I don't really know anything."

Harry decided to give Peter the cliff notes version. He had done so many things so far that to name them all would be insane and some of those adventures were best kept private.

"Oh, where to begin," Harry said and Peter opened his mouth to make the obvious quip. "I graduated a couple of years early from high school, was the class valedictorian, and went to ESU. And I'm in the process of finishing up my Doctorate."

"Oh that's why you're interning at Oscorp," Peter said.

"And I've spent a couple of summers up at Xavier Institute, up around the area of Westchester," Harry said.

Peter nodded, he had heard of the place. It was a very exclusive invitation only school where only the best and brightest go.

The two of them talked for a few more seconds with each over, just catching up on previous events. Peter decided that he would get discretely around to the reason why he invited Harry around in the first place.

"So I need to ask you a question, and I know that you'll be honest with me," Peter said abruptly out of the blue. "Is there anything of my Father's around? You know, something my Mother might have missed when she picked me up…."

There was a second where he paused and it was almost as if he was going to say something else. He held his tongue back quite nicely from spitting out what he was thinking.

"You know, I'm not really sure," Harry said and he could see Peter's hopes completely deflate right before his very eyes. He frowned and added as an afterthought. "I might have seen a box with Richard's name on it when we were moving the stuff from the basement into your old room."

"You did?" Peter asked, and his hopes rose.

"That was a long time ago though," Harry said, with Peter blinking at that. "It might have gotten thrown out by now."

Peter resigned himself to that fact and he hoped that he would able to find himself more. Mostly because it was his legacy that got lost and it would gain him some level of respect that he sorely sought.

The problem was that he had to do this extremely discreetly. If Harry had figured out what he was doing, then there might be a few more questions than he asked.

"Fair enough," Peter said, deciding to drop the subject, at least for now.

They brought themselves back to some light hearted conversations, the subject of Richard Parker and his lost research never coming up again. Harry put it out of his mind for now, chalking it up to the curiosity of a young man who wished to know more about his biological father. He wasn't completely sure if the box got thrown out or not himself.

He might want to look it up to satisfy his own curiosity and hopefully gain some inspiration for the work he was doing.

* * *

><p>Harry and Gwen met up after work. She dressed in a blue hoodie with a red hood on it. She wore a pair of tight blue pants with a red streak down the middle. Harry wore a black and white hoodie and a pair of tight black pants to add.<p>

"So, that's what happened?" Harry asked, when he stretched. Gwen finished discovering her misadventure with the two thieves earlier this day.

"That's exactly what happened," Gwen confirmed, frowning deeply. Her eyes followed Harry and watched him stretch. She could watch him stretch all day. "And when the bullet fired at me, I could see it coming in my mind's eye before he finished pulling the trigger. And I could see it flying at me, and where it would land, so I could put myself and Mary Jane out of harm's way."

Harry looked thoughtful as he finished his stretches. He allowed her to start on her stretches. It was remarkable how flexible she was, when she bent completely back to touch her calves.

"You developed some kind of danger sense," Harry suggested, and he held her waist steady so she didn't fall over.

When he was sure that she didn't, she kept stretching herself. The blonde bit down on her lip.

"I never used to bend this well," Gwen said to him and Harry smiled.

"Well I think that we firmly tested how flexible you are the other evening," Harry told her with a knowing smile on his face. Gwen blinked in amusement and started to laugh at the thought of it.

"I think that's something that we've established, that I'm flexible," Gwen whispered and she stepped towards Harry, closing the gap in between the two of them. "Extremely flexible."

"Oh yes, you're very flexible," Harry agreed to her, and he smiled when she leaned against the wall, spreading her legs.

She realized what she was subconsciously doing and she stopped, landing on the ground.

"Okay, I want to follow me through the course, best you can," Harry told her with a smile on his face. "If I'm right, then you could handle it with no problems. Better than I did when I started this workout."

Gwen didn't want to say anything and she gave him a deep smile in response. She wanted to prove him completely right. A cocky grin spread over her face.

"Ready?" Harry asked and she nodded.

This wasn't the first time the two of this did this but it had been a while. Harry took the lead to start, with Gwen following him. It was obvious since that he knew the course like the back of his hand, he would get the early advantage.

Gwen could see him ahead of her and she picked up the pace, making the sharp turn. She made her way closer and closer to Harry. Her enhanced reflexes and agility pushed her further head despite the fact that he knew the course better than her.

She pulled forward until the two of them were neck and neck together. The two of the matched each other's movements when they continued to move on down the course.

Gwen felt her adrenaline pump forward. This was a great feeling but something else other than her adrenaline kicked up. Her hormones fired up a few notches when she continued her path down the course. Her heart beat steadily and heavily the closer that they got to the edge.

They remained neck and neck until they reached the end of the course.

"And stop!" Harry yelled.

"Oh, that's a good warm up," Gwen said, throwing her arms around him and she kissed him passionately. Her next move resulted in her pushing him backwards.

Harry held her in close to him and the blonde's tongue worked down into his mouth. His hands brushed against the small of her back and pulled her into him. Hormones and adrenaline were getting the better of them.

Gwen grinded against him when she kissed him and it was obvious exactly what she wanted.

Harry wasn't about to deny her something like that. His tongue slammed into her mouth, showing domination against the beautiful blonde teenager.

* * *

><p>A random parking garage in a remote part of the city was the perfect meeting place between shady individuals. Which was what exactly was happening, and there were three individuals.<p>

One of the individuals was someone who stood out in a crowd. He was a large man and towered over a skinny individual that stood next to him. Their faces were completely obscured in shadows. The third party was a big enough man who looked like a Secret Service Agent.

"So what's the deal here?" the man said to the men in the shadows.

"This guy right here," the big man in the shadows said in a rough voice, pointing to the companion beside him. "He knows how to get things done. He knows how to get in touch with someone who can do some breaking and entering for the right price. He can have them require something of interest if the person is willing to pay for said service."

The man who resembled the secret service agent smiled in the shadows.

"The question is are you willing to pay for said services or are you just a bunch of hot air?" the large man asked. He was skeptical that this entire mess would go down as planned.

"Oh, I can assure you that I'm the real deal," the third man commented, picking up a heavy briefcase like it was nothing. "And I'm sure that you'll find out that this is the real deal."

The man slid the briefcase down at their feet.

"I'll be in touch for the other half when the job is done and done well," the man in the suit whispered, staring at them.

The man took his leave and walked out of the garage, as quickly as they felt. There was a sound of a car pulling out into the distance.

"So, he's the real deal, isn't he?" the large guy asked.

"Yes," the skinny man commented underneath his breath. "He's gone now."

A large man with brown hair and a rough demeanor stepped out of the shadows, dressed in a blue and yellow tracksuit. He was as thick as a rhino and the epitome of a Russian gangster.

His skinny companion stepped from the shadows moments later and he appeared to be the one and only J. Jonah Jameson.

**To Be Continued On December 8****th****, 2014. **

* * *

><p><strong>Obviously not Jameson, just someone wearing his face, if you catch my drift.<br>**

**There are some pretty intriguing bits in this chapter if you look at it. Obviously some really vital set up for later. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight.**

* * *

><p>Harry sat in solitude in the park. He was eating lunch and reading the paper. The major news story was about billionaire Tony Stark being found alive in Afghanistan. So that was an interesting piece of news to learn.<p>

He was alone right now for the simple fact that Gwen got hit with an extra work load. Most of the interns called in sick. So she was able to be there and do her work double time. She could handle it but she was extremely busy never the less.

Harry sat there, eating his meal calmly. He was skimming through the paper and looked at the news through the day. He flipped through the paper and smiled. The most important news of the day was what was going on with Tony Stark. There was nothing else there of particular note.

Suddenly, Harry was caught with a mental prod. That was something that caused him to sit up and feel it ease into his mind. He recognized the mental signature and it was one that he was intimately familiar with. He allowed the mind to connect with his.

The setting around Harry shifted from a beautiful and lush park to a sleek living room. There was a fire place with a roaring fire shooting out. There was a bearskin rug that was on the ground. The entire living room have an intimate feel to it.

His eyes shifted over to an extremely attractive blonde who was sitting on the couch. She wore a nice female business suit that fit her frame perfectly. The blonde looked at him with a smirk crossing her face. It was obvious who she is.

"Welcome, Harry," Emma Frost said and she waved him over to sit down on the couch. There was a clear look of invitation dancing through her eyes.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. He wasn't about ready to turn down the invitation.

"So, what's up, Emma?" Harry asked her.

"Oh, you know how things are going," Emma said as she crossed her legs together. "I'm in a rather tedious meeting and I'm just sitting there, waiting for them to go through the motions. It doesn't really require my attention, but at the same time, it really requires my attention. It's completely droll, you know."

Harry was in his share of tedious business meetings so he understood.

He snapped his fingers in response and he heard something in the news. "Oh, I heard about your father dying, and…..I'm really sorry to hear about that."

Emma only raised an eyebrow. She looked rather disinterested. "Really, Harry?"

Harry smiled and waved her on. It was obvious that Emma had the dirt on her father and decided to inform him.

"My father slept around with the wrong person, he was found sleeping with his bodyguard's wife," Emma said when she placed her hand on Harry's thighs. "And his bodyguard decided to put a bullet through his head. There was no chance of anyone surviving that. And his bodyguard hung himself before the police could find him."

Perhaps Harry was putting two and two together and getting nine. He knew Emma's relationship with her father and knew that there was something more than met the eye with this entire situation.

The sultry young blonde shifted herself and practically straddled Harry's lap. Her hands placed on Harry's shoulders and she looked into his eyes. Her icy blue eyes met his emerald green eyes.

"My offer for you still stands," Emma commented, when she kept onto his lap, and she absent mindedly played with a lock of his hair. "I want you to head up the scientific research division of Frost International."

Emma paused and she could see that she was still in need to lure Harry into the right position.

"And I'm willing to remove the company's base from Boston to New York," Emma said with a sultry smile on her face. "If you're willing to accept my proposal. Anything for you Harry, anything that you want. I just need you to do this, for me."

Emma almost slid down onto her knees and she pushed herself up. Her hands rested on Harry's shoulders when she looked at him. It was almost like she framed this like it was a marriage proposal, or at least the closest Emma was going to have to a marriage proposal.

"You know the reasons why, I'm locked into a contract with OsCorp," Harry told her and Emma looked at him with a smile. "I'm not opposed to the idea, but I like to finish my commitments. Unless you're willing to buy out the contract. If you're willing to do that, then we'll talk."

Emma looked at him thoughtfully. She was really tempted to do that.

"Once you're done, I'll jump on it," Emma whispered, running her finger down his cheek and she leaned in towards him.

Her lips met his in an extremely passionate kiss with each other. Harry wrapped his arm around her.

Slowly and sensually, Emma slunk sensually down to the ground. The sultry blonde got down to her knees and unbuttoned his plants.

She was about ready to redefine what it meant to blow someone's mind.

* * *

><p>There was plenty of business that needed to get completed at OsCorp. There were three men who were hard at work. They worked on something that was important. The Oz3 formula was in front of them.<p>

Norman Osborn, Curt Connors, and Otto Octavius were busy at work with the formula. They took the baseline formula that Harry worked on. Then Connors spliced in the desired genetic traits. There was a hope that this would either stabilize the formula or at least get them well along the way to stabilize it.

The lab was divided in half, with Otto working with his arms. On one side of the lab, the lab was being conducted. On the other side of the lab, Connors, Otto, and Norman waited for the experiment. Peter also stood in the background as an observer.

"Let it begin," Norman whispered, excitement brimming through his gaze.

They stood behind a radiation shield for one simple reason. The serum had to be exposed to a low level of radiation to ignite it, for lack of a better term.

Utilizing his robotic arms, Otto exposed the serum to the radiation.

"Careful," Norman warned him.

"Give me some room, I have it," Otto said and he utilized his arms. He exposed the vial with the serum to the radiation for about thirty seconds.

The serum glowed before them, the telltale signs that it was charged being delivered. Otto reached over and unlatched the cage. The test subject was removed from the cage. It was a rat missing its arms.

With the serum prepared, Otto injected the creature with the serum. The rat went into convulsions briefly and for a second; they didn't think that it worked.

Then in a flash of light, the arms started to grow back. Connors watched the rat's arms grow back, his eyes flashing with interest and delight.

"We did it," Connors whispered when he saw the rat, no longer handicapped.

"We better look again," Norman said and he crooked one of his fingers forward.

Their joy was completely premature. The changes didn't stop at the re-grown limbs. The rat started to mutate even more prominently.

"It's turning into some kind of rat-lizard hybrid creature," Otto muttered underneath his breath. It was a hideous abomination of science that was in front of them presently.

Norman placed his hands around the rail by the glass and squeezed it so hard that he might have left an indentation on his hands. The man started to breath in and out heavily, and he could see the rat continue to shift and mutate right before his very eyes. It grew even more hideous by each passing second.

The rat looked like it was growing in mass for a brief moment. It then popped like a giant zit and caused it's remains to splatter against the wall.

Peter stepped in and saw the disgusting sight. The young man could see his father about ready to blow a gasket.

"No," Norman whispered, he could see the now useless formula.

It was not stable this time. Harry was correct in his report, and this proved things without a shadow of a doubt. The formula was useless without the proper stabilizing agents. The genetic material from the lizard spliced into the formula did not do the job, at least not right away.

Norman Osborn was almost in a rage.

"Just calm down," Peter said when he moved over and he could see Octavius and Connors both looking nervous. It was obvious that both of them knew what it would be like when Mount Osborn blew his top and neither wanted to be around when that horrible sight was about. "Keep calm, it's going to be fine, it's going to be alright, just take a breath."

Norman Osborn was not about ready to take a breath. Far from it, it looked like Norman Osborn was about ready to blow his top, which would be a terrifying sight.

"We won't achieve anything if you don't calm down," Peter whispered to him.

"Yes, you're right, you're right," Norman said, shaking his head and he calmed himself down.

This was just a set back, an annoying one yes, but a setback never the less. Norman Osborn was not about to give up after just one momentary set back.

"Are you going to be okay, sir?" Otto asked his boss.

"Give me a moment, we'll clean this up and try again later," Norman said. If they could track down Richard Parker's work, this would make their lives much easier.

Norman led himself to be lead away. It was just in time because he was seconds away from having a full blown meltdown. He needed to calm down because he wasn't going to lose his mind again.

* * *

><p>"So exactly how did you get the tickets, Harry?"<p>

Harry, Gwen, and Mary Jane all huddled themselves in a train car, they were on their way for a three way date. The car was nearly about ready to approach their start. They were on their way to a major wrestling event of all things.

"Sue Storm gave me them, she originally got them for her brother," Harry commented to both of them. "He absolutely had to see Bonesaw McGraw fight Crusher Hogan for the Championship of the World."

"Oh, Crusher, he doesn't really bring it outside of Japan anymore, does he?" Gwen asked with a smile on her face.

"Not really, unless the price is right, but it's a big money match, televised around the world on Pay Per View," Harry said with a smile on her face. "Millions with buy it and millions more will torrent it the next day…"

"So why couldn't Sue's brother make it?" Gwen asked curiously.

"There was some unforeseen problem out in California for the project that Reed Richards is working on," Harry said. "So they'll going to have to go there now…..and since there were three tickets and they shouldn't go to waste because they were prime seats, Sue offered them to me."

"That sounds reasonable," Mary Jane, and the ride of Madison Square Garden was rather quiet. "So, how's work?"

"It just happened that half of the office called in sick," Gwen told Mary Jane and the redhead patted Gwen on the arm sympathetically. "But, I can handle any work that they put my way."

It also gave her a chance to keep her ear open.

"The Electrician that got injured during the accident, he's still in the hospital," Gwen said to both of them.

"I heard that OsCorp is going to pay for his medical bills," Mary Jane said, stretching and this caused her shirt to ride up a little bit on her. She didn't stop when she saw Harry's eyes avert towards her slightly.

"Well, it's for the best, because they don't want a huge liability lawsuit or anything with it," Harry said with a smile on his face and Mary Jane nodded in agreement.

The three of them made conversation until the moment that Harry's phone rang. Seeing who the number was, Harry answered it.

"Hey, Harry, it's Ben," Ben Parker said over the phone.

"There isn't a problem or anything, is there?" Harry asked, he just had this sense that there could be something wrong tonight.

"No, no, there's nothing wrong, and you don't need to get anything either," Ben said with a chuckle. "I'm just calling to tell you that May and I are going out for the evening. We should be back by the time that you get back though."

"The two of you enjoy your night out with each other then," Harry said with a smile. Both of them deserved a rare night out together. It was not often enough where their shifts aligned. Most of the time, they were like two ships passing in the night, only around for dinner. "You two deserve it."

"Thank you Harry, we will, take care, and I'll see you later," Ben said, clicking off the phone.

The train pulled to the stop.

"It's a perfect night to go out, you know," Gwen said and her eyes looked towards the sky.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky tonight. That made things even better as far as she was concerned.

The group exited the train and made the short walk over the front end of the arena. It was obviously sold out.

"It's been sold out for weeks," Harry told both of the girls.

"Yeah, they said that it was sold out within ninety minutes of tickets being on sale, and Dad mentioned that a bunch of the guys at the station who wanted tickets couldn't get them," Gwen commented. "So, it's a pretty big deal."

"I think that we figured that out," Mary Jane said in amusement.

No one really knew what was going to be on the undercard, the show was hyped on the strength of the main event and the strength of the main event along. Then again, that was the thing that caused the tickets to sell out.

"Billed as Crusher's retirement match," someone said in an excited manner outside of the building.

"Hasn't he been doing that gimmick at least once a year for the past seven?" one of the fans, a more cynical one said. "You should know that retirements in wrestling never last."

"Bonesaw's coming back, he cut that rap album on Crusher calling him out, and now that's going to be a payoff to it," another one said in excitement.

Harry, Gwen, and Mary Jane made their way to the good seats. There was a sea of humanity and also a crowd of people who were raucous and excited. It was the type of atmosphere that it was hard not to get into. The trio took their seats and just in time, as the show was about to begin.

Pryo and ballyhoo kicked off the show and the crowd was rocking.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is a special match scheduled for one fall with a twenty minute time limit. Coming to the ring first, from Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, he weighs in tonight at….."

* * *

><p>It was hard not to get caught in the fever of the crowd. Plus there was a rather interesting match between two female competitors before the main event who could actually wrestle. That was a rare treat in this day and age.<p>

Mary Jane, Gwen, and Harry left the arena, it was pretty close to Eleven O' Clock by the time they got out of there. The main event had to wrap up before the Pay Per View went off the air and the two competitors killed some time despite the match starting at the top of the hour by hamming it up for the crowd as only they can.

That being said, they were heading to Gwen's place. Her father would be out late that night with his work, so it would only be the three of us that were there.

"I'm not being expected back until the morning and I told Aunt Anna that I would be at Gwen's place regardless," Mary Jane commented with a smile on her face. "I just didn't say that I was going to make a side trip along the way."

The three of them picked up a pizza on the way home and were on their way inside. Gwen fumbled with the lock with the key that she had, opening the door. The trio stepped inside, with the lights popping on for them.

"So, how is your internship going at the Bugle?" Harry asked Mary Jane when the three of them settled themselves on the couch.

Mary Jane smiled when she shook her head. "Pretty hectic, and Jameson…..he's a character."

"Always good for a laugh, isn't he?" Gwen asked, helping herself to a slice of pizza. She was careful not to take the entire thing even though her appetite was such where she almost couldn't help herself.

"He got into a lot of trouble recently, and had to print a retraction, didn't he?" Harry asked.

"He's normally more careful, and it actually wasn't him this time who stuck his foot into his mouth," Mary Jane said and she reached for the slice of pizza but Gwen's hand went out and blocked hers. Both of their hands touched each other at the middle. Pulling her hand back, Mary Jane retracted it.

"Oh no, by all means," Mary Jane said, waving her hand and Gwen smiled.

"If you insist," Gwen said and she picked up the piece of pizza. Mary Jane took another one and Harry took one of the final pieces.

The three of them made some light conversation. They would be wound up by the excitement of the show that they went to for some time so it would be a while before they would head off to bed. Gwen relaxed herself and was ready for the long haul.

Her phone rang suddenly, and she picked it up. Gwen saw that her father was calling and he never called her cell without good reason.

"Yes, Dad, what is it?" Gwen asked him.

There was a note of panic in Captain George Stacy's voice that caused Gwen to go more concerned. Even Mary Jane and Harry picked up on her concern when they sat at their vantage point.

"Is Harry there with you?" George asked his daughter.

Gwen was taken aback by this sudden line of abrupt question. She had no reason to lie so she answered in affirmative. "Yes, he's here."

"Well, I have some very bad news," Captain Stacy said and his voice sounded rather grim. "Something…..something terrible has happened."

Gwen wondered exactly how terrible it was. Her Dad never sounded like this. It was unnerving. "Um…"

"Can you put him on?" Captain Stacy asked his daughter.

Gwen shook her head, there was something about this entire mess that freaked her out. Despite that fact she complied willingly with her father's request to put on the line with Harry.

"Okay, I'm putting him on," Gwen said and she almost trembled with her hand being shaken.

"Yes, Captain Stacy, I'm here," Harry said, wondering exactly what was going on here.

An eternity seemed to pass even though the bad news was given rather quickly.

* * *

><p>The nice, fun, and relaxing evening had been turned around in a hurry. Harry, Gwen, and Mary Jane had arrived back at Harry's house, at the insistence that they come back. Captain Stacy said that something extremely bad just happened.<p>

The moment that they arrived, it had all of the telltale signs of a crime scene. Cop cars swarmed the area. Harry approached the Parker home and he saw that the door of his home had been taped off. There was police tape around the edge of the house and one of the cops caught his eye. He walked over to greet him.

"Are you Harry Parker?" the officer asked in a somber voice.

"Yes, I'm him," Harry said.

"You better head next door, all three of you, your mother is waiting," the officer said and it was obvious that this was a very delicate situation.

The officer walked them over next door. Given the circumstances, it was almost like they were being escorted on death row. There was a quiet calm around all of them and they wondered what the deal was. The group reached the Watson house.

The officer knocked on the door and Anna Watson answered the door. She swept her niece into a hug, and then walked over to do the same to Harry.

"She's over there," Anna whispered, and he could see May sitting in the room, looking like she was in a state of shock.

Immediately, when she spotted Harry there, she walked over towards him. There was something shaky in her movements. She did manage to wrap her arms around Harry, and pulled her into a tight hug. She started to sob, with Gwen and Mary Jane taking seats, obviously third parties to a great tragedy.

Harry responded by wrapping his arms around her tightly in response, and rubbing her back. He wished that he could say that everything is going to be okay. He just couldn't bring himself to do that.

The problem was that everything was far from okay. Captain Stacy entered the room, and waited for May and Harry to take seats.

"What happened?" Harry asked, knowing that his mother was in a state of shock.

"Perhaps we should go into the dining room, there's a lot more room in there," Anna offered, waving her hand.

No one questioned that, the group automatically assumed that they were going that way.

"Here's what happened," Captain Stacy no sooner than the entire group sat down. "After the Parkers got home from dinner, they found out that someone broke into their house. In fact, Ben Parker ran into the burglar on the way out. He was able to overpower him for a moment, and he dropped the bag of what he stole from the house."

George paused and allowed that to sink in.

"The perp pulled a gun out, and shot him twice at point blank range," George said and the horror of the situation became clear. "While this was happening, May went over next door to call for Emergency services and a squad car was nearby."

Harry placed his arm around May's shoulders, and tightened them. So far the story was accurate and to live it would have been the terrifying truth and nothing but the terrifying truth.

"He ran off without the stolen goods and fled the scene," Captain Stacy said. "We combed the entire neighborhood, but he got clean away."

Captain Stacy sighed.

"And Ben Parker…..they did all that they could for him, but he passed away on his way to the hospital," Captain Stacy said and he leaned towards both of the Parkers. "I'm truly sorry."

That was a numb scene to be had. Harry didn't let go of the grip around May's shoulder. While he let this settle in, he only had one question.

"Did you get a look at the man's face?"

Harry's tone was oddly calm, one could argue that it was too calm. A sketch artist happened to be in the room and finished sketching out a picture of the suspect in question.

"We matched to get a composite drawing on him," George said. Said composite drawing was placed on the table.

Gwen looked at the composite for ten seconds and the blonde tried to hold back the gasp that she had. Mary Jane locked eyes with her suddenly.

Harry frowned when he looked at them and he wasn't the only one noticed anything.

"When we were going back from shopping yesterday, we saw two robbers do a jewelry heist," Gwen said, keeping her voice calm and Harry used his free hand to grab her hand. "One of them tripped, but the other got away….that's him, Dad, that's the guy that got away."

"Can you be sure of that?" George Stacy asked. Officially he couldn't pinpoint a guy without proof.

"I got a picture of his face, clear as day on the camera," Mary Jane said and she reached into her bag.

She pulled out the envelope of her developed pictures and hastily flipped through them. Neither her nor Gwen was going to bring up the fact that both girls nearly got shot over this picture when he was brought out.

She slapped the picture down onto the table and it was there, clear as day. May looked at it, eyes widened.

"That's him," May said.

Harry looked from the composite drawing to the picture Mary Jane took and there was no question who it was.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued on 1210/2014.**

* * *

><p><strong>Well that was only eventually going to happen. Chapter pretty much speaks for itself in many ways.<br>**

**Emma was obviously one of the women that were in a mutual relationship with Harry and Felicia. Obviously, Gwen knows what she's getting herself into before she was with Harry. **

**Oooh, yeah, Bonesaw. :) **

**Foreshadowing in that scene with the OsCorp crew is foreshadowing. **

**See you on Wednesday where we pick up with more insanity. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine:**

* * *

><p>The day that was a day that was extremely rough for everyone involved. A fun night had turned really tragic in a heartbeat. That just proved one thing that tragedy can be around the corner no matter how hard that you want to avoid it.<p>

Harry Potter thought about what happened after that night. The man got away. The police could not hunt him down. All they had was a face to go on and the man must have gone underground. It had all of the classifications of a robbery that turned violent. He doubted that this man walked out the door intending to kill anyone.

He must have cased the place, making sure to stay under the radar. He waited until the Parkers were gone, all of them. The only problem was that his work ran longer than he did and he just was leaving when Ben and May got back.

Now there was a man who was dead. Harry stood underneath the shower. The water had long since stopped running. He thought about the waste of life that this was. This man might have repented his actions, he might not.

George Stacy said that they had every single intention to catch the man who did this and bring him to justice.

Harry made his way out of the bathroom. He had a quick message from Rose on the phone.

"Harry, I'm sorry what happened, please call me at noon your time if you can get the chance…..if not I'll see you at the funeral," Rose's voice said over the phone. "The twins send their love as well and say they hope to see you soon."

He had another message over the phone.

"I'm really sorry for what it's worth," Felicia said to him and Harry smiled. "Things are busy over here, otherwise, I'd come and see you. Tell Gwen I said hi and give May my condolences, might be over here a bit longer, but I'm sorry. Ben Parker was a good man and no one deserves that."

Harry smiled and was going to hang up the phone but there was one other message for him.

It would have to wait for a minute because Harry could smell cooking coming from the kitchen. He quickly got dressed and made his way up the stairs. He made a turn.

May already made breakfast, that much Harry could see. It was obvious thought that she was making so much more than that. She had a casserole set up on the table, and Harry could see another one and a third one. She was currently working on a fourth one.

Harry walked over towards her and pulled her way from the oven. His next action was to wrap his arms around her into a tight hug.

May flinched for a second, before she realized that it was Harry there. She had been in her zone ever since that happened.

If only the perp had been caught by the police the first time through, Ben might still be alive. That was something that she reminded herself of.

"It's going to be alright, he wouldn't have wanted you to go to pieces on his account," Harry told her gently.

May shook her head and she allowed a soft sigh to escape her mouth. "I know that, but…."

"You know that, you've been cooking since before I went to bed, and you're cooking since I got up," Harry said. He made his mother look him in the eye. "You haven't got any sleep since the moment that we got back from the Watsons, have you?"

The look on May's face told Harry pretty much everything that he needed to know. There was a moment of protest that threatened to come from her. Harry decided that he wasn't going to have any of that right now.

"I know that this is your way of coping," Harry told her.

"Yes, I'm glad that you realize that," May said, and she could see those eyes, Lily's eyes, stare back at her.

Lily always had that uncanny way of guilt tripping people and making sure that they did what was best for them.

Harry inherited that from his birth mother. "But, you know that you need some sleep. I don't want to have to worry about you being sick, you know."

"But there's too much that I have to do with…."

"Ben's funeral, I know, I'll take care of it, I'll take care of everything, trust me," Harry told her.

May raised her eyebrow when she looked back at him. "I do trust you."

"Then why aren't you going off to get some sleep?" Harry asked her, with a smile and May shook her head at him.

"Just as bad as Lily," May muttered underneath her breath.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Harry told her.

May was about ready to walk off. She stopped short and turned around. "Take it out of the oven in about an hour."

"No problem," Harry said. In response, May walked off, leaving him alone in the kitchen.

Harry had a few phone calls to make and maybe a couple to return if he could. The first thing was to call Norman Osborn and tell him that he wouldn't be into work for the next couple of days.

He decided to grab a few muffins and some orange juice. He would have to have his strength if he wanted to deal with this entire mess regarding planning for the funeral.

* * *

><p>Donald Menken casually walked up the stairs. He nearly bumped into Peter's assistant, maybe his pet project. He wasn't sure which, but she obviously fancied herself to take his job one day. Menken was keeping a close watch on her never the less.<p>

He couldn't even be bothered to remember her name. It wasn't important. He didn't have the time to deal with Peter's lapdog.

"Yes, may I help you," she said when he nearly bumped into her. She wasn't in a good mood and she didn't have the time to deal with Norman Osborn's lapdog.

"I need you to relay a message to Mr. Parker-Osborn," Menken commented to her crisply as if he was giving the latest weather report or sport's score. "His uncle, Ben Parker, was shot and killed in a botched robbery last night."

She dropped her cane to cup her hand over her mouth. Flushing in embarrassment, she bent over, nearly falling over to pick it up once Menken offered her no assistance.

"That's awful," she said in shock and awe.

"Yes, very much so," Menken said dryly. Mr. Osborn did give Harry Evans-Parker the time off that he needed. Something that he would do for very few people. That just showed them without a shadow of a doubt how much Norman Osborn valued Harry's contributions to his company. It was best for business if he remained happy.

"Do you want me to tell him?" she asked.

"Yes, I wouldn't have told you if I didn't," Menken commented to her. "This has been a stimulating chat, but I have more important things to do. Send Mr. Parker-Osborn my condolences and I'm sure his father would have liked to pass them on as well."

His condolences sounded very shallow and almost like they were done out of obligation. That being said the scarred brunette woman hobbled forward like an obedient and dutiful dog. She raised her free hand and knocked three times evenly on the door.

"Unlocked."

She knew that. The door pushed open and she walked into the office. She only walked as far as she had to shut the door.

The woman stopped at the edge of the office. The cane clutched in her hand when she leaned forward. Her knee bothered her something fierce because of the change of the weather.

Peter Parker-Osborn looked outside of the window into New York City, almost like he was in deep thought. The girl waited patiently to be acknowledged and to be given permission to take a seat. She had been on her feet all morning running around the building.

The pain pills that she took only eased the pain somewhat. Her abilities that she couldn't use because of the nerve damage in her arms burned through them quickly.

"Yes, what is it?"

"Sir, it was your uncle, he was shot last night," she told him.

Peter looked around. Despite his problems with Ben Parker as of late, he didn't want ill will to be visited on the man.

"Which hospital is he in?" Peter asked. He could see the look of despair on her face. He cut straight to the chase. "He's dead, isn't he?"

She nodded slowly. The potential heir apparent to the Osborn legacy said.

"Doctor Evans-Parker is taking care of all of the funeral arrangements," she said, checking the note that Menken slipped her.

"Let him know that if there's anything to help," Peter commented swiftly. He knew that Harry would be good to making sure everything got in line for the funeral. He would also make sure that his aunt didn't overwork or over stress herself. "And have they had any leads on the bastard that did this?"

"No," she told him swiftly. "I don't really know that much more about it. There's just been a blip in the news and a picture of the guy. A warning that he's considered armed and dangerous, so he shouldn't be approached."

Peter almost thought that there was a word of warning in her words. His protégé/assistant looked back at him nervously.

"I can see if I can find out more if you want me too," she suggested, trying to look like she was helpful.

"Do that, please," Peter told her. "And after you do that, find out when the funeral's going to be and call down the limo driver. I should be there, to say goodbye if anything else."

He wished that he would have made amends when Uncle Ben was still alive. That being said, there wasn't anything that could stop him from paying his respects.

"I'll do it, and I'm sorry," she told him. "Sir?"

"I heard you," he commented when he looked out the window again. His thoughts were far different than they were before.

With any luck, this man would be punished to the fullest extent. Hopefully he would rot in the deepest darkest hole. There were very few good men in this world and when one of them died, it was a tragic moment.

Peter was left alone in his office. He wasn't particularly close to the man to be honest. That being said the fact that he was murdered really did weigh something fierce down on his mind.

* * *

><p>News spread rather quickly and Liz Allan took the short walk down the street to the Parker Residence. She looked around nervously.<p>

The blonde girl had her hair tied back and she wore a very stylish white blouse and a pair of black cut off denim shorts with designer boots. She was the type of girl who had a purse that matched pretty much every pair of shoes that she had.

She inherited the role of Queen Bee of Midtown High School after Felicia Hardy graduated. Being the Head Cheerleader, she figured that she would be in line for the role rather easily.

Of course, she thought that Gwen and MJ might be just a bit more adept at such things. If only they cared about such things.

Liz made her way to the Parker Residence. She had heard about Ben Parker being killed and she wanted to offer her condolences in person. It was all over the paper and the manhunt for the man who did this. George Stacy held a press conference saying that the man in question was a danger to the community and needed to be brought to justice.

The fact that a relative of one of New York's most prominent young citizens got shot and killed got all kinds of people worried. It was a tragedy in its own right however.

Liz casually walked her way up the steps and nearly stopped at the edge of them. She raised her hand and slowly knocked on the door. She whistled and waited patiently for Harry to come and greet her.

"Hey, Liz."

Liz turned around and grinned. She should have known that Harry was out and about.

She didn't know Harry as well as Gwen and MJ did. She did know him well enough though to be smitten with him. He tutored her and still did in a couple of her classes. The Midtown administration had been cracking down on academics and the school wanted their athletes to get the best grades possible. It would look everyone look good by comparison.

"Hey, Harry, how are you doing?"

Liz would have been lying if she didn't admit that Harry haunted her dreams after what she caught him and Gwen doing the other night. She did have a few dreams here and then but they grew more vivid.

She could see Harry sitting down on the porch bench. There was a handset next to him, along with several files and notes. A cell phone also sat next to him.

"I'm doing about as well as could be expected given the circumstances," Harry said to her. "I'm surprised to see that you're here….."

Liz interrupted his statement right away. "I heard about what happened. I just wanted to stop by and check up to see how you're doing after everything."

She leaned down with a smile on her face. Her arms wrapped around him rather tightly. There was a moment where she realized that this positioning might not be the best for this. That being said, she felt Harry's face press against her stomach.

Liz blushed rather prominently when she realized that Harry's face may have gotten a little too up close and personal to a certain part of her if she had maneuvered the hug a little lower.

"So, honestly, how are you doing?" Liz asked him.

"Lots to do, for a funeral being arranged, I've been on the phone all day," Harry said. He just got off the phone with Peter's personal assistant who bombarded him with twenty questions regarding what he knew. It took almost forty five minutes before they came to the point that Harry didn't know much more than the news media officially did and the funeral was still being scheduled.

Liz decided to allow herself a moment to stand there.

"Sit down, make yourself at home."

Harry cleared off a space for Liz to sit down and she did so in good grace.

* * *

><p>Gwen Stacy felt a maelstrom of emotions in the back of her mind. She walked by in a zombified state. There was an entire lot of getting her head in check. The problem she saw was that her head kept getting messed up and it was hard for her to concentrate.<p>

She wasn't in full blown guilt trip mode. Not being in full blown guilt trip mode wasn't exactly a good thing though. There was still some guilt that weighed on her.

Gwen hated playing the "what if" game because that never ended really well for her. She chewed down on her lip.

'_Stop beating yourself up for this,' _Gwen thought to herself. She shook her head in a vain attempt to clear negative thoughts. _'This is not the time, this is certainly not the time. Oh god, you're going to be a wreck and it's going to be worse for Harry.'_

She was pretty sure that Harry was able to hold it together fairly well. There were times where he was under pressure and it scared her almost how well he held it together.

Hell Gwen was going to have to go as far to say that if he wasn't able to hold it together, then she wouldn't be here having her pity party right about now. The blonde frowned extremely deeply when she arched her neck back.

'_Okay deep breaths, remember not to lose it,' _Gwen thought to herself mentally.

She felt bad about missing Harry's call from earlier. She didn't know if she could keep it together over the phone with her state of mind. After a large breakfast, a shower, and putting a dent in a cinderblock with her fist, Gwen thought that she was better off with talking things to Harry.

She jumped over the garbage can that someone laid out in the middle of the street. The funny thing was that there was a buzzing in her head that caused her to come back to life.

'_That's an unfortunate near miss,' _Gwen thought to herself. She struggled hard to keep it together with herself. The blonde wrenched her head back after a second.

She shook her head and made her way to the front door step. It was not time for her self loathing. Harry was the one that lost a family member. Gwen decided that it was time to see things there.

She stopped there and she spotted Liz there. The blonde frowned, wondering what the cheerleader was doing there.

'_Beaten to the punch with the comforting thing, I see,' _Gwen thought to herself, balling up her fists.

She nearly put her fist through someone's new car in frustration. Gwen took several deep breaths. The breathing exercises Harry taught her worked wonders in keeping her temper in check along with her hormones.

She wasn't blaming Liz for comforting Harry. No, Gwen blamed herself for wasting a good chunk in the morning wallowing in her own guilt. It wasn't jealousy because she knew that many women would be entangled in Harry's web. It was anger at herself.

Gwen stepped forward and gave a deeper sigh. She wondered if Harry or Liz noticed her.

The blonde made her way back home. The wind blew in her face. She still walked in a daze.

There was a message on her cell phone. Gwen decided that she would ignore it for now. It was just best that she get something else to eat.

Gwen wondered if her powers burned more calories when she was angsting up a storm. If that was the case, she would have to keep them in check. Having a hyper metabolism sucked in certain instances and this was one of them.

She really had no choice. It was a call from Peter's friend…Harmony, wasn't it? She couldn't recall her name off hand. Gwen figured that she might have been doing some digging about something on Peter's behalf.

Gwen thought she was the persistent little toady, trying to call every two minutes, even when she was eating. At first, she was amused. Then when the calls persisted throughout the lunch time, she was getting really, really, annoyed.

She would answer, she supposed, right after she got something to eat.

"Yes," Gwen said curtly.

"It's urgent," she said, sounding irritable that Gwen left her hanging so long. "Peter wants to know everything and you were there when the suspect escape. Can you give me a full description of the guy who you saw who did this?"

"I've got the composite sketch right here and the picture, I'll just send it to you," Gwen said. This was the type of girl who would get on her nerves just on sheer principle and she had been having such a shit morning she would lash out at anyone.

"Oh, that's great, you know you really should answer your phone more often, because this would have been done by now," the girl lectured over the phone.

"Excuse me that I have more pressing business given that my boyfriend's uncle died," Gwen said to her snappily. "And did you get what I sent you?"

"Oh, I got it, thank you, and if I need anything further, I'll call you, so stay by your phone," she commented in a clear voice.

"Looking forward to it," Gwen dead panned and she hung up the phone. "Bitch."

* * *

><p>Liz decided to take a seat on Harry's lap when she perched herself on the bench. The young man pulled his arms around her. It didn't matter the position. In fact it was the best for practicality because of the fact that there were papers spread over the bench for all to see.<p>

The young blonde Cheerleader allowed herself to stretch her legs. She could feel Harry's hands move in front of her. She decided to deflect herself away from certain thoughts that had been born from her observation the other night. It would be best for both of them if she asked a few questions.

"So, what are you doing anyway?" Liz asked him.

"I'm going through some stuff for the funeral, and also some things that the burglar tried to steal," Harry said. "He dropped the bag that he had when he…..well when he committed the murder."

Liz turned her head slightly to face Harry. He got an inventory of everything that was stolen out in front of him.

"Some of my mother's jewelry, some silverware, and oddly enough, something that Richard Parker left in the house, notes from his job, the burglar tried to take that."

Liz's curiosity was piqued at that moment. She raised her eyebrow and hmmed, with interest.

"Was there anything of value taken?"

"Nothing that I can see your average person using," Harry said. "There was a formula for a super sticky adhesive that Richard scrawled on a napkin."

Liz shrugged, she couldn't see anything that your average thief would want for that.

"So, you've been keeping busy with everything, it hasn't really had a chance to sink in, has it?" Liz asked him.

"It sunk in well enough last night, I just have to make sure that my mother doesn't do anything," Harry said. "She already made enough food to feed an army in there."

"Well some people cope with stress in different ways I guess," Liz said, with a frown.

She couldn't even begin to guess how they were feeling. It was a senseless crime and she hoped to see the person who did this be brought to justice. Hell the entire community wanted to see these people brought to justice.

Harry had a few messages from people about condolences. Obviously given that he was well known in certain circles, news like this was going to spread fast.

"So, Harry, do you mind if…."

The question was lost forever in the annals of time. A limo pulled up and Harry recognized it immediately. The driver exited the limo, walking over to the side and opening the door. Peter was the first person to exit the limo. He reached into the door and helped his assistant out of the limo.

"Do you have your cane?" Peter muttered underneath his breath and she nodded.

"Yeah I got it, it's fine," she commented. She leaned on her cane and hobbled over. She was in a bit of a short mood this afternoon.

"So, I figure that you were busy, but I need to swing by and talk to you," Peter said and he looked at the young woman who was with Harry. It was entirely unusual for Harry to be in the company of a gorgeous woman, in fact it was expected. "Forgive me, if I haven't…..had the pleasure."

"This is Liz Allan, Liz, this is Peter Osborn, my cousin, and this is Peter's assistant…"

Peter cut off the introduction before Harry could finish it. "So this is the famous Liz Allan that my brother was telling me all about."

"Oh, he has?" Liz asked.

"Yes, but….do you mind if I borrow Harry for a moment from you?" Peter asked her.

"It's quite alright," Liz said, waving her hand towards him. She was left with Peter's assistant. Liz shifted herself, when she saw that Peter's assistant was very interested in what Harry was working on. She blocked the bushy haired girl's view. "So, you've worked with Peter?"

"Yes, that's correct," she replied, annoyed that she couldn't get a closer look at what Doctor Evans-Parker was working on. "I've known him since….college."

"Those are some nasty scars," Liz muttered and the girl looked very annoyed. "I'm sorry, I wasn't really judging, even though some people might."

"Yes, I'm well aware," she commented, turning away on her cane. She wondered what Peter was talking to him about and how long it was going to take. "I got them in primary school….junior high or Middle school for you Americans, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I think it is," Liz commented. She wanted to ask who gave them to her but she knew better than to press the issue. She struck a nerve.

"So, I swear, if there's anything that I can do to bring Ben's killer to justice, just let me know," Peter said. He leaned in close to Harry so the two girls couldn't hear him. "OsCorp has connections and we can find out who did this. He can be put in a hole that he won't be getting out of any time soon."

Harry assumed that he met some high security prison, but there was something about what Peter said that made him unsure if that was what he meant. There was just something about his tone.

"What's the deal with her today?" Harry asked.

"Oh…..well your girlfriend snubbed her apparently when she didn't answer the phone the first time that she rang," Peter said. "And I swear, I didn't ask her to call Gwen and pester her about this. She must be feeling guilty enough as it is. She took it upon herself to do some detective work. I'll have a talk with her later, and it won't be happening again. Trust me."

Harry trusted Peter to an extent but things had changed. He was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

"Wait in the car," Peter told his assistant. He didn't want to say anything with people outside of the family around, but he was pretty sure that Menken or Norman put her up to what she did today.

Harry wondered if he should tell Peter that the burglar tried to steal some of his birth father's notes. Even if it was useless, Harry decided to hold that information off for later.

"I'll see you in a couple of hours, something's come up," Peter said to him. "Remember, if you need any help…."

Harry smiled and waved him off. The two of them said their goodbyes.

"I better get going, sorry again," Liz said, giving him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek when she went off. "I'll see you around."

* * *

><p>Gwen made her way back to her apartment. She was in a bit better spirits.<p>

The blonde pushed open the door and didn't even walk three feet into the room when she saw her father sitting at the table. She frowned when she looked at him. He looked like a zombie at the table. Gwen wondered if he had been living entirely off of coffee as of late.

George Stacy acknowledged the presence of his daughter standing in the door. He frowned when he saw her approaching.

"Are you okay?" George asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine, I was just surprised, that's all," Gwen said and she got one of those Dad looks. "That's really all."

"If you insist," George said and Gwen sauntered over. She took the empty chair across from him.

"Has there been any news?"

"Gwen," George told his daughter. "You know how I don't like bringing my work home. Especially given that this is an actively ongoing case."

Gwen slowly folded her arms and gave her father one of those looks. It was the type of look that could burn a hole through solid steel. A hardened cop like George Stacy could even handle so much.

He sighed and finally caved in.

"We don't have much to go on but they've finally been able to match the photo," George commented. "The man in the photo is a career criminal known as Dennis Carradine. He's been in for burglary, armed robbery, car jacking, and he even ripped off a wrestling promoter for his money."

Gwen might have been impressed by this given normally it was the wrestling promoters than ripped off the talent.

"He seems to have skipped down or more likely, had some friends that allowed him to disappear into the criminal underworld," George said, mentally weighing how much he could tell his daughter. "His partner is an entirely different matter entirely."

"What about his partner?" Gwen asked him.

"Herman Schultz, he was an inventor of a sonic drill at Tri-Corp, but he was fired for having an attitude problem and also his experiments were a safety hazard," George said. "This was about three or four years back. He turned to less than savory practices in the meantime. He's been working with Carradine for about six months now."

"You can question him, right?" Gwen asked and she recognized the look on her father's face. "That's not that simple, isn't it?"

"No, it's not that simple," George told her. "There was a miscue with the paperwork and Schultz walked as a free man. None of the charges could stick. And now he's disappeared and no one has any clue what he's been up to."

Gwen crossed her arms, trying not to scowl too deeply. This was not promising news. The one lead to the man had done this disappeared because someone fucked up.

George sensed his daughter's discomfort. He calmly got up, wrapped his arms around her and swept her into a quick hug. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

"Don't worry about it," George commented to her. It was obvious that Gwen was worrying about her and her latest intense glare showed him all of that. "We're the ones that have to worry about it. Just look after Harry. We'll catch him, we're the professionals, that's what we do."

George yawned.

"And now I need to try and get some sleep," George commented. "Good night, Gwen."

"Good night, Dad," Gwen said and she wished that she sounded more chipper.

Gwen made her way over to the couch. She sank down it in the fit of angst. The problem was that while her father told her to not to worry about it, she did worry about it.

She also worried about what might happen with the consequences of giving Peter's aide that photo. Gwen wasn't in the best of mind and she was very annoyed with the person's persistence.

'_Guess it's too late for take backs now,' _Gwen thought to herself.

Her eyes shifted towards the open file folder that was over on the table in front of the couch. Gwen knew that she shouldn't pry. Her father left it lying around and didn't pick it up in his tired state.

It was almost like the devil and the angel were going to war with her.

'_One little peak won't hurt,' _Gwen said.

The devil k'oed the angel in the most figurative sense of the word. The blonde picked up the folder. For all she knew, this particular file didn't have anything to do with anything.

It did have everything to do with anything. She spotted everything that she needed. There was a report about the crime, a status report. There was also the list of known associates of Carradine and Schultz. There was also known locations of where they did to business.

The first smile of the day crossed over Gwen's face.

**To Be Continued On December 12****th****, 2014. **

* * *

><p><strong>And Gwen gets her sneaky on. A lot of interesting points in this chapter, some subtle, some not so subtle.<br>**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten:**

* * *

><p>Peter managed to do a couple of errands that he had planned before he returned sometime around four in the afternoon. It was just in time to see his aunt wake up. Liz returned there around that time as well, after she checked up on a few things.<p>

He did enjoy meeting up with Aunt May again, even if it was not under the best circumstances. After Richard Parker died and his mother married Norman Osborn, Peter didn't really see his aunt and uncle too many times. Things got really strained there. He hated that but that was just the way that things were going.

His aide was calmly sitting in the corner, avoiding eye contact with everyone. The stern reprimand he gave her earlier put her back into line. Sometimes you had to do that. Peter didn't need things to be any more strained and he was forever apologizing to Harry for her conduct. He took personal responsibility for it.

"And I'm pretty sure that Uncle Ben would want us to remember the good times that we were in and wanted life to go on," Peter was telling his aunt as he lingered outside of the door.

May gave him a watery smile and shrug. "No, not at all. He always talked about how that you just needed to buck up and get on with your life if it handed your hardships."

"Wise words from a wise man," Peter said. He was glad to see that she was back on her feet or at least as back on her feet as she ever was going to be. "It's a shame that the last time we…well it's just a shame that we didn't mend the fences."

"Ben said things that he regretted all the way to the grave," May said, trying to appease the situation.

"I know, and he has every right to speak his opinion," Peter conceded. "I might have done the same if I was in his shoes. But what's done is done now, and we got to move on with life. Otherwise, what's the point in living?"

It was a busy day with many people coming in and out to pay their respects to the situation. Anna Watson came in a few times during the day to check up on May. The food May made didn't go to waste either. That was the most important thing.

"We better get going, it's getting rather late," Peter said, and he focused on Harry and May. "If you need anything…"

"We know, and thanks," Harry told him with a smile on his face.

"Yes, thank you, Peter," May commented to him.

"Sorry, I better get going, and I'm sorry about your loss Mrs. Parker," Liz commented. She hoped to stick around a bit longer but she knew that if she was out much later, her father might as well kill her or worse ground her.

"You're not thinking about walking home in the dark, are you?" Peter asked her. Liz was taken off guard by that sudden act of concern. She nodded slowly but Peter shook his head in negative. "I'll drive you home."

Liz gave one of those pressing looks towards Peter's assistant and returned her gaze back to Peter. The girl frowned when she spoke. "Um, that's not going to be a problem, is it?"

Peter frowned and he got instantly why Liz might think that could be a problem.

"Trust me, that's not going to be a problem at all," Peter told Liz firmly and without another word, he lead her out the door.

"Have a good night, Liz," Harry called after her. She stopped, turned around, and smiled.

"You too Harry…..try not to work too hard."

Peter cracked a smile. "That will be the day…..when my cousin doesn't take too much on."

Peter left with Liz in tow and his aide following at his heels.

'_If looks could kill,' _Harry thought. He provided himself on his great observational skills and what he was observing was a look that caused the room to chill.

He half paid attention to Anna and May talking about something. He saw a figure make her way up the stairs. Her redhair was tied back and she was dressed casually in a black shirt, a jean jacket, jeans, and boots.

"Sorry, I couldn't come sooner," Mary Jane said, greeting Harry at the door. "I couldn't get time up because JJJ, the compassionate soul that he is, wouldn't give it to me."

"Say no more," Harry said when he led her inside. "Busy day?"

"You tell me, and we'll both know," Mary Jane said, cracking a grin on her face. She smiled and she leaned out the door to catch Liz right before she left. "You have a good night, Liz."

"You too, MJ," Liz said and Mary Jane turned around with a smile on her face.

"So, thankfully my exposure to Jameson is limited, because Betty's the one working with me the most," Mary Jane said and she sighed. "Of course, your exposure to that guy can't be too limited when you can hear him all the way in Jersey when he's on one of his rants about something or other. I shudder to think what his blood pressure is like. And his indoor voice is nonexistent. Got to give him credit for being someone who was able to keep print media alive. Because we all know how much that's struggling."

Harry smiled and he pushed his back against the wall. He was about ready to slide against the wall and that caused Mary Jane to be alarmed.

"Harry, are you alright?" she asked and rushed over towards him. She took his hand and helped him up to his feet.

"Just I've been working hard all day, and well last night was a long night as well," Harry said.

Mary Jane nodded in sympathy. She held her arms around Harry when she held him up.

"You know, I'm surprised that Gwen isn't here," Mary Jane said when she looked at him. "Have you heard from her at all?"

Harry shook his head. "I hadn't heard from Gwen all day. Left her a text message but she hasn't called back yet.

"Hmm," Mary Jane murmured. "Maybe it's just me, but I think she has one of those guilt complex things about what happened. I don't even know why. I guess it could because we saw suspect number one, but no one…..no one would have been able to blame her for what happened. I mean, she's being really unfair with herself. She's being completely harsh on herself and it's insane."

Mary Jane realized she descended into a fit of mindless babbling. Harry held his arms around her waist and held her up.

"Oh this is nice," MJ whispered in his ear without regret. Harry raised his eyebrow. "You know, we should stay like this for a while…..sorry I didn't mean to…"

"Don't worry, I know that you didn't mean to," Harry told her with a smile and he didn't retract his arms from around her at all.

Mary Jane sighed; she really needed to work on that entire putting her foot in her mouth thing.

* * *

><p>Norman Osborn was busy at work while his son was talking to him from the doorway. He heard every word that his spawn said but he didn't seem to be too bothered in interacting with it.<p>

Harold cleared his throat and Norman calmly worked through what he needed to do. "Yes?"

"Didn't you hear a word that I said?" Harold asked.

Norman gave one of those long sighs that had been long since practiced because of dealing with ingrates on a day to day basis. "Yes, Harry, I heard you. I am blessed with the extraordinary ability to multitask, something that you should try to learn some time. You may accidentally get something accomplished."

"You were sitting there and you didn't say a word," the younger Osborn whispered, getting completely hot under the collar. His fists clenched together when he looked at his father.

"You told me that you wanted to go to California for the rest of the summer," Norman said crisply and calmly. "The one thing I don't understand is why you even bothered to tell me anyway. You're sixteen, almost seventeen years old. You're almost old enough to vote, although I highly recommend you don't because I don't trust you to make informed choices."

Harold Osborn felt like something hard and sharp slapped him off of his face. His father's words, they always cut into him deeply. He never had a good word to say to him at all.

Norman's eyes reverted back to his report. He didn't really make any eye contact to begin with anyway.

"You don't need my permission and you don't need me to hold your hand every step of the way. You want to do something, you do it. You just accept the consequences of what you do and know that I won't bail you out. If you want to go to California, then go to California. If you don't, then don't. I never had this problem with Peter."

That one statement caused Harold's eye to twitch. He started breathing in and out. It would have to be his oh so perfect brother being brought up for him. He felt like a dog that was getting his nose rubbed into something extremely smelly.

"Guess you want me to go now, don't you?" Harold asked in a condescending voice.

Norman didn't even bother to look up from the report. He could hear his son go all huffily from his office like a spurned teenage girl. The young man nearly bumped into the approaching Otto Octavius. The scientist stepped back, with a bemused glance. This allowed Harold to storm down the hallway.

Otto casually made his strides into his office. He sat down right in front of Norman and peered into his eyes. He corked his eyebrow when he looked at the OsCorp head.

Otto couldn't decide whether he wanted to be amused or annoyed. He waited several moments for Osborn to acknowledge his presence. There was something about that which made him think that it wasn't going to happen. So it was up to the scientist to be the one to break the ice and more importantly the silence.

"Trouble?"

Norman's gaze shifted up towards Otto's. He shook his head.

"Not really," Norman commented in a dismissive voice. "My son decided that now would be the proper time for him to stop by and show me that his balls have dropped, that he's a big boy now."

Norman made one final note.

"It would be far more impressive if he didn't act like such a sniveling coward," Norman commented, and he finally locked eyes with Otto.

Otto knew better than to say anything. His verbal language was the one that said all, along with one arched eyebrow that made him resemble Spock.

"I never have these problems with Peter, unless you count the company he decides to keep," Norman commented and he turned his full undivided attention towards her. "And Harry…the good Harry…he's a young man that you would be proud to have as your son. Or you would if you had any children, Otto."

"Of course, sir," Otto commented in a conversational manner.

"Just as well of a son, and he picks up the slack where certain people have left off," Norman added.

Outside of the office, Harold heard every cutting word. It wasn't the first time that he heard it. He heard it said to his face more times than he could really count.

To hear it said to a co-worker, someone outside of the family, that was far more of a slap to the face. Harold saw those sharp works given by his father to be a betrayal.

"You bastard," Harold hissed through his teeth outside of the office.

He didn't have the stones to go back into the office and confront him. He was about ready to storm off and throw a hissy fit. Harold managed to hold himself in line, not to make a public spectacle of himself.

He calmly walked down the hallway and pulled out a cell phone. He dialed up a number and tried to cope with the disappointment that he had such a rotten father in the only way he knew how.

"Yeah, you got the hook up?" Harold asked. "Because I've got the cash…yeah the good stuff…..you know how my father is. I'm leaving today, and I'll meet you out there."

It would serve Norman right if something happened to him out in California. Harold cracked his knuckles and prepared to pack up for this trip. He didn't need his father's permission to do anything.

* * *

><p>Otto frowned extremely deeply at Norman's words but he tried not to show it. He did have similar issues with his parents so his sympathies may go towards the younger Osborn. Was he going to say anything? Not if he wanted to keep the harmony with Norman Osborn. A harmonious relationship was the absolute best when dealing with a person such as Norman Osborn.<p>

"Despite our best wishes, one cannot choose their family," Otto commented.

Norman gave a cold and crisp nod in response. "Indeed."

He spent a moment working with the documents on top of his desk. Seconds passed before he decided to bring up a question.

"Speaking of family, how is your wife doing?"

Otto blinked suddenly. Slowly the man reached up and pulled his sunglasses off of his face. The scientist pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dare I ask you how you know about my wife's condition?"

Norman was calm and stiff as could be. "The insurance reports pass through my office. I do take a look at them and unlike some employers; I do take an active interest in the life's of my employees. So, how is she doing?"

Otto placed his sunglasses back on. The man looked forward for several seconds. It was almost like he picked his next words wisely.

"The reports came in and they are inconclusive," Otto stated to Norman. His eyes flashed on the man before him. "Her symptoms indicate though that things aren't looking too favorable."

Norman "hmmed" for a second. Otto detested that for some reason. He knew that there was something grinding in Norman's head right about now.

"Did I ever tell you why I spent so much time and energy creating the Oz Formula, Otto?"

Otto stood up properly to face him. "You told me that it was to cure various diseases, cancer, and the like."

There was nothing that Norman said right now. His facial expressions remained calm and stoic. It was almost like he was trying to piece together his next thought in the back of his mind.

"Was that true, sir?"

"In a sense, it was, but it had a more personal manner in mind," Norman commented, moving his head down so Otto didn't look into his eyes. It was under the pretext of straightening up some files on his desk. Something else was amiss. "It was my first wife Emily. Shortly after our son's birth, she was in and out of the hospital. It was discovered then she was stricken with a rare type of disease. The formula could have been the key to curing her. It could have been the door to redefine everything that humanity is."

Otto blinked and this reaction was Norman's cue to continue.

"For nearly a year, I painstakingly worked on a way to perfect a means to cure her," Norman said. He looked up and faced Otto. There was a brief break of emotion in his voice but the second they made eye contact there was nothing. Norman Osborn wore many masks and this was one of them. "I was at the lab that night, working, when I got the call. She was dead. There was nothing that I could do. The best doctors in the world couldn't have done anything and I failed. For the first time, I failed."

Norman got up and turned away from Otto, looking outside of the window. There was a cold feeling.

"Sir, I'm sorry about what happened."

"Don't apologize, I never do," Norman said without turning around. He looked out over New York City. From this point in his office, he was essentially on the top of the world. "I have power, lots of it. And yet, I failed in my responsibility. The responsibility I took when I married her. It never ends, the feeling, Otto. It was much too late then and it's still much too late for me."

Otto didn't say anything because he didn't know what to say. Norman's voice osculated between tense and pure lack of emotion.

"It's not too late for your wife," Norman continued. "If this is as serious as you think it is and I believe it is, this formula can cure her. It can fix the flaws. No one needs to experience a tragedy like this ever again. You have the personal motivation whilst mine is merely what's best for business now."

Otto couldn't say anything. His superior said more than enough.

"It's not too late," Norman repeated slowly and clearly. "Just remember that."

Otto thought about that and realized that he did have the personal motivation to ensure that this formula was created smoothly.

* * *

><p>Gwen dressed in her red and blue free running outfit. The young woman bent down towards the ground, making sure her shoes properly were tied up into place. A headset rested on her ears, which was hooked to a police scanner.<p>

She spent several moments listening. Nothing more important than a traffic violation came over the network. She began to think that this entire exercise was an exercise in futility.

Gwen calmly rose to her feet and shook her head. She didn't give up that easily, far from it. The blonde gave an extremely labored sigh and started to stretch her legs out. Everything Harry told her about being limber was reflected in her mind.

So far, it was so good, at least that's what she thought. The blonde placed her hands on the back of her head and turned herself around, rotating slowly.

The names Schultz and Carradine were what she was listening for. If she could find either of them, then she would have a better chance to bring them to justice.

She didn't know quite what she would do if she caught up with them. Gwen figured that she would cross that bridge when she came to it and hope that she didn't get pulled underneath to the shark infested waters that would be beneath said bridge.

A pair of gloves added to her outfit. All she had to do was wait and watch. Not patiently mind you but she waited.

Gwen stood on the rooftop of her apartment building, the police scanner in place. She made sure the hood of her shirt pulled up and she slipped on a pair of tinted sunglasses that glinted.

"Michael Edwin has been seen in the area, suspect is armed and dangerous, if you see him proceed with cauction because he is extremely armed and extremely dangerous. He has been holed up in the warehouse on the corner of North Avenue. Do not go in there without backup, he may have a small arsenal to use."

Gwen frowned. She was pretty sure that someone like Edwin kept a pretty close ear to the police scanners, at least like she did. The blonde skidded across the rooftop.

She made the jump and showed a fair amount of agility. The blonde hit the roof top one at a time and became extremely acrobatic when she kept flipping.

She made a really tricky jump. The blonde nearly smacked hard into the side of the building but hung onto it. It was almost like some kind of sixth sense preventing from smacking into it hard.

Gwen let out a sound that was somewhere between a sigh of relief and a whoop of joy. She would have pumped her fist into the air if she didn't need both hands to pull herself up.

'_I can't believe I made that one!' _she exclaimed intensely in her mind. She quickened her steps. Her mind went a million miles a moment. _'Actually the fact that I didn't become some kind of smear, that was the worst thing.'_

Gwen propelled herself and hit the wall. She stuck to it and pulled her way up.

'_Okay, I shouldn't try my luck,' _Gwen thought, frowning. _'But you got to admit, that makes me feel so alive.'_

The police in the area told Gwen one thing and that was she was getting close. She didn't know if her search would bear fruit tonight.

She saw a man in the window and there was a limo pulled out back. The police hadn't arrived yet. Gwen beat them to the punch. She tried not to look too smug about that.

'_Okay, let's see what these powers can really do,' _Gwen thought and she propelled himself off of the top of the building and all the way to the warehouse. _'Come on, you can make it….YES!'_

The blonde pumped her hand up into the air, but she didn't want to toot her horn too much. She scoped out the crew. There were four guys on the ground. All of them walked outdoors for a few seconds and then passed back indoors like nothing happened.

Gwen launched herself fairly quickly through the air. She landed on a subway car that was outside. Gwen peered in through the window.

She spotted the contraband that was inside. There was some really big deal going down. It was hard to say what was in those boxes.

The sound of loud voices prompted Gwen to move off and away. She would have her moment.

Gwen thought that she was in the middle of a war zone here. The cops seemed to be preoccupied with one guy but this was deeper than one guy. She wasn't even sure if the one guy was here anymore.

There was something else that piqued Gwen's curiosity.

'_Not an abandoned warehouse either, but it's active,' _Gwen thought to herself and she frowned. _'That's an even more impressive cover really.'_

"Schultz will be arriving at any moment now, police are investigating, but they won't find anything, not where they're looking," one of the goons muttered underneath his breath. He was a tattooed hoodlum.

Gwen thought the police might not have found anything but she was certainly onto something.

* * *

><p>An individual who redefined the term scumbag leaned lazily outside of the bar. His spiked blonde hair would be his most prominent feature. He stood close to about the area of five foot nine. His attire contained a pair of dark green camo cargo pants, a bright yellow shirt, and a grey jacket. He had a bit of a dopey look on his face that indicated that he wasn't all too bright at all.<p>

"Hey, you know, if you're looking to pick up a little extra, all you have to do is hop in the sack with me," the man whispered in a sleazy voice. He questioned a woman who looked like she was of loose morality. She turned towards him with a frown on her face. She had red hair, wearing a tight top and a leather skirt with fishnets and boots. "Just think about it."

The man decided to say something that he thought would seal the deal quite nicely.

"Just think about it, I mean, it's not like you have much going for you anyway."

This was a statement that got he slapped and hard. The man took a step back and held his cheek.

Bitch had some fire, he had to admit that. She stormed off and acted like she was offended.

"Yeah, like you have any right to be high and mighty dressed like that," he said, reaching into his coat and pulling out a clear bottle. He downed half of the contents of it with one swig, shaking his head. No sooner did he do this his cell phone blipped to life. "Yeah, I'm here."

"We're ready at the checkpoint, make sure you're ready to do your end when we call on you," a slightly garbled voice whispered over the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, yeah, I got it," he whispered. He stood up straight. The cops were around and that made him a bit nervous.

There was a pair of eyes watching him from afar but he didn't know that. There was a shudder that went down his spine. Something made him increasingly paranoid the further that he went along.

'_Son of a bitch, this is nuts, you can't do anything without someone breathing down your neck,' _he thought to himself.

* * *

><p>Gwen made sure not to be seen. If they started looking up, she would have to move quickly. There were some gargoyles conveniently placed. She crouched down on it, peering down.<p>

She shifted her position underneath the gargoyle. This was a daring move but she felt bold. The teenager hung upside down and waited for him to come on by.

The scumbag down there, he would have to lead her to Schultz. Then she would be closer in resolving this. Hopefully Harry would understand what she had to do. The only reason she didn't tell him was because she knew he'd try and talk her out of doing this.

And he'd be right.

'_Better to ask forgiveness, than it is to ask permission,' _Gwen thought. She watched her step and made her way off lightly.

The thug looked like he was jumpy as hell when he kept walking. Gwen followed him at a discreet distance when he went behind. She had a feeling that he had a feeling that someone was watching him.

'_If only he knew,' _Gwen said, finding a brand new perch point. Her hearing enhanced after the spider bite which was a good thing.

The last thing she wanted was to get shot up. She made an inventory that there were two snipers who were perched. She clung to the rafters, mounting a support beam. Dare she drop down just a little bit?

She decided that she better not risk it.

"Come on, coast is clear, let's go."

Gwen thought that they were moving somewhere else. The warehouse wasn't the drop off point, it was the checkpoint. The snipers looked around and for one anxious second, Gwen thought that they saw her.

They didn't.

It was a game of lead around until they finally reached a construction site. Various vehicles allowed Gwen the perfect cover. She scurried up a crane where she would be able to hide out easily.

'_Jackpot,' _Gwen thought to herself. She kept still and stoic. _'Yeah, it's him; I'd never forget a face like that. Only a mother would love that one, well maybe if she was drunk.'_

Herman Schultz stood there in an ugly yellow jacket in all of his glory, if you can even call it that. He stepped towards the thug.

"Are you sure you weren't followed?" he whispered to the thug. He tried to act all assertive and gruff but people weren't humoring him.

"Yeah, Herman, sure as fuck I weren't followed, thought I was, but no one's that good, you'd have to be some kind of freaking super acrobatic to follow me this far," the thug grumbled.

"For your sake, I hope that you're right," Herman said.

"So what the fuck is this all about anyway?"

Herman punched the man in the shoulder, hard and caused him to wince from the impact.

"If I warned you once, I warned you a thousand fucking times," Schultz said. "Don't mouth of to me. Especially when you aren't able to back it up."

Schultz pointed one finger over to the side. The thug's eyes followed the process slowly and greedily. His mouth hung open.

"Courtesy of our good friends in the Russian Mob and our good friend Dennis," Schultz whispered, popping the crate open. He pulled out one of the contents, a brand new AK-12.

Gwen knew that now as the time. She had to move. Now!

Schultz heard something over his head. Something flew off the crane and drop kicked him right in the face.

Gwen landed on the ground and kipped up to her feet. The thugs around Schultz looked dumbstruck. She took advantage of that by grabbing him around the arm and flipping him to the ground.

"GET HER!"

Gwen dodged the attack of the thug and kneed him in the face from behind. One of the thugs bent down to pick up the dropped weapon. Gwen was in there as quick as a cat and she curb stomped the back of the goon's head into the half-finished pavement.

Gwen used her abilities and some martial arts training she picked up to dazzle the thugs. She set up one of the goon's, wrapping her legs around his head and did a back flip. She spiked him onto the ground with a piledriver like move.

A buzzing blared in Gwen's ear and she dodged his attack. She grabbed him like she was going to give him the Diamond Cutter but she did a back flip and spiked him into the ground with a maneuver that was the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Of course, a good old fashioned punch to the face would sufficient given the situation.

One of the thugs tried to sneak up on her. A good old fashioned Pele Kick drilled her enemy in the face.

The goons all had been battered in no time. The element of surprise combined with training and some creative maneuvering allowed her to get the victory. Gwen thought that she felt extremely good about herself. Her senses went off just as she heard the click of the gun.

She dodged the bullet and it sailed past her hand. It impacted into the door of an outside toilet. There was the sound that resembled a sledgehammer smashing a water melon behind her.

The gun man was down on the ground the second she turned around. The blood pouring from the back of his head indicated that someone did a far nastier number on him than she did.

Gwen spun around and went to attack another person that was behind her. She was surprised that he blocked her attack.

He blocked her attacks two more times before he grabbed her wrists. "So, you did pretty well for yourself up until the end. Then you kind of let your guard down. Relax Gwen, it's only me!"

Gwen struggled for a brief second and felt a strong pair of hands hold her into place. She relaxed ever so slightly when he held her and she recognized the voice.

Many questions entered her mind but she was confident that would have them soon.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued On December 15<strong>**th****, 2014. **

* * *

><p><strong>More of dat Osborn family drama. And a bit of Norman's motivation is given, although given that he's a man who loathes failure, that's much more than that.<br>**

**Gwen is out on the field in the first time. She's in way over head all things considered, but she did well. Some skill, some luck, and an element of surprise worked well here. She does have some basic self defense training. Although obviously not as extensive as Harry's training, obviously.  
><strong>

**Hey everyone let's meet Herman Schultz. **


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven.**

* * *

><p>Peter returned to his Penthouse after the day that was. It had been a busy day for him, both for business and personal reasons. After he dropped Liz off, he returned home along with his dutiful assistant. She tagged behind him, not saying a word. She remained stoic and uncaring. The moment she got inside, she would retreat to her room off to the side of the library and likely not come out until Peter had use of her. That was honestly for the best.<p>

As for the other occupants, his father was never around half of the time anymore. If he wasn't away on business, Peter figured that he had quarters in some unused part of OsCorp that he slept in. Providing he ever slept and that was something that Peter was completely unsure about. There were also whispers that he had a mistress.

"Good night," Peter said to his assistant and she made her way off with a nod.

"Good night, let me know if you need anything."

She hobbled up towards the library with her cane. Peter wondered briefly if he should have set up her living quarters directly inside the library as opposed to the side of it. It would be a lot easier on her all things considered.

Peter wondered where his brother was around. Harold was best left to his own devices when he was around. Peter cared about him but he also realized that there were certain times where he would need to give Harold his space.

The young man walked inside further. The entire world felt like it got spun around after the death of his uncle. He thought that Harry worked himself too hard but he appreciated it. Peter did his duty as his nephew to make sure all of the food Aunt May made didn't go to waste.

It was good to see her again despite everything. And the trip there wasn't completely depressing.

Peter could hear some sounds of someone extremely angry throwing things into a suitcase. He fronted, that was a suspicious thing. He walked by and saw Harold's minder, Shaw, with his back turned towards him. He was watching television.

"Have to seen my brother?"

Shaw turned his head slightly, his face stoic and calm. "I believe he is upstairs packing."

Peter thought for one wild moment that Norman kicked Harold out onto the streets to fend for himself. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if it did at this point. Peter raised one eyebrow in surprise and spoke calmly.

"Packing?"

"Yes, he is going on a vacation, meeting up with some people in California," Shaw commented and he turned back towards the television now that his duties were done.

Peter was at a loss to figure out who Harold would be meeting up in California. He decided to go to the young man himself and see what he could find out about this sudden trip.

Seconds later, Peter positioned himself in front of the door. He gave it a knock. The frantic packing continued. Peter wasn't used to being ignored, so he knocked on the door again, this time a bit more firmly. This time the person inside got the message because the packing stopped.

Peter stepped back, the door wrenching open. He would have gotten hit straight in the face if he was standing there.

"Yes, what do you want?" Harold asked. No sooner did he say that he saw Peter there. He relaxed. "Pete…oh hello, sorry, I thought that you were someone else."

Peter nodded and allowed himself inside the room. "That much is obvious. What's the sudden frantic packing?"

"I'm heading to California, I just have to get away from it all for the rest of the summer," Harold commented to him.

"Rest of the summer is most of the summer, isn't it?" Peter asked him and Harold smiled. His smile was extremely strained and it looked like he forgot it.

"I just have to…..well I just have to get away from certain things," Harold said, staring Peter down. "You know what it's like, don't you? To want to get away from the pressures that being his son offers?"

"I might have a bit of an idea, yes," Peter commented to him. "You got into another war of words with Norman, didn't you?"

Harold didn't want to say anything at first. He turned his back on Peter and resumed packing.

"It doesn't matter."

"Well, I think that by the way you're acting, it does matter," Peter commented to him.

"I don't even know why I bother," Harold raged. He made sure everything was packed up tight before he slammed the case shut. "He's never going to show me any respect. I still think that he blames me for my mother dying."

"You know he doesn't…"

"Well, he does a wonderful job of showing it," Harold spat angrily. He zipped up his bag, nearly dropping it out of his hand. He barely prevented it from hitting the floor. "I was just informing him where I was going, so he doesn't worry himself. But I don't even know why, because he wouldn't worry himself if I turned up dead in a ditch somewhere."

"Quit being emo and knock it off, Harry," Peter said, grabbing the Osborn heir roughly by the shoulder. "You know, the best way to get his approval, is to stop trying to get his approval. What he thinks doesn't matter. If you always trail his shadow, you'll be less than him. Don't ask for permission, just do. If you do right, then the results will speak for yourself."

Harold took a moment to look at him. "And if I do wrong?"

"You'll never do right with an attitude like that, Harry," Peter told him and he could see his brother's frustration boil to a fever pitch. "So, what do you think of Liz Allan?"

"I think she's still dating Flash Thompson," Harold said, wondering why this conversation went in the direction that it did.

"Not anymore, he went to Football camp and he broke up with her for the summer, so she wouldn't be a distraction," Peter said to Harold. "She decided that she would break up with him on a more permanent basis, since she's so much of a distraction for him."

"And I bet he expects her to get back together with him despite that when the school year starts," Harold commented. He didn't have much respect for anyone who played high school football. One day he would be serving people like the Osborns fries anyway. Maybe if he was lucky, he would be carrying Harold's bag. "How do you….."

"I met her at Aunt May's…she was seeing how everyone was doing after Uncle Ben died," Peter said.

"Oh, and how…"

"Fine," Peter said to him. "And we're going out to dinner this weekend."

"How?" Harold asked her.

"I asked her, she said yes, pretty simple don't you think," Peter said.

Harold's eye twitched for a moment. "Yes, simple. I see."

Harold's words were calm and chilling. If Peter noticed anything, he certainly didn't say a single word. Rather he left Harold to continue to pack in his own calm and icy manner.

He clenched his fists and mentally counted to ten the second Peter left.

"You're becoming more and more like our father every day, aren't you, Pete?" Harold asked when he clenched his case in his hand. "Norman must be so proud of you."

Harold threw a shirt off to the side, having ripped it to pieces in his fit of absolute anger. Gritting his teeth, he finished off the packing. The sooner he would be on the plane to California and away from his brother and father, the better his life would be.

'_Would serve them right if I didn't come back,' _Harold thought to himself the moment he left.

* * *

><p>It was an extremely stressful night for Gwen Stacy. This was also a night that almost ended in tragedy. The blonde's heavy breathing escalated, she didn't know how close it turned out for the worst. Her eyes closed shut.<p>

Someone grabbed her from behind roughly. She saw the gunman down on the ground. He tried to shoot her. She ducked. The bullet ended up in the door of a Portable John and the man ended on the ground, worse for wear.

"Relax, Gwen, it's me!"

Gwen turned around and spotted Harry standing there in all of the flesh. She took a half of a moment to register that he was there. She clutched his shoulder, a little bit more tightly than she would have. It was hard to blame the girl, she was getting used to her powers.

"I was wondering where you went off to," Harry said. He could see the figure of Herman Schultz slowly getting to his knees. Harry lifted one of his fingers and tapped Schultz on the back of the head, causing him to smack face first into the ground. He knocked him completely out. "MJ said that you intended to be there."

"Yeah, I intended to be there," Gwen agreed. She was ready for this one but at the same time, she wasn't completely ready. "I'm not….."

"I sent you a call and a voice message, telling you to call me right back," Harry said to her. Gwen nodded in response.

"Yeah, I…..kind of ignored that," Gwen said sheepishly.

"I figured as much," Harry said, holding her into a tight grip. His arms snaked around her. "When you didn't answer, I grew concerned. I knew that you might have done something. Especially since Mary Jane said that you felt guilty after what happened. She didn't know what you intended to do, but I figured that out."

"Yeah, I went after him, the guy's name is…"

"Carradine, I know," Harry said with a frown. Gwen opened her mouth to ask exactly how he knew. "Well it was all over the news, but…..you know I have connections as well where I can find out these things."

Gwen nodded. The fact the two of them had this conversation over the body of Herman Schultz. She made sure that the bastard was done. A nice stomp to the back of his head ensured that he was down and out for the count.

"So, you found me?" Gwen asked. Her frown grew deeper when she spoke to him. "Might I ask how exactly you found me?"

Harry figured this information needed to be told sooner or later. Recent events mandated it was more on the end of the sooner than the later.

"You know that my bloodline is magical," Harry said. "There are things far more complicated than your average garden variety wand waving coming in from my mother's side. While this sort of thing can happen with the wand wavers, it's really rare."

"Well, you are a special kind."

"I've never picked up a wand in my life and my magic is far more refined for it," Harry said, in the same air as a person who has never did drugs informing another person as such. "But that's not the point. I slept with you."

"Yes, many times, in many positions," Gwen confirmed. Harry raised his eyebrow and gave her a look that rivaled hers. The blonde teenager cleared her throat. "Continue."

Harry could hear Schultz slowly return back to life. He flicked a pebble at the back of his head, knocking him back unconscious. He continued to speak.

"I don't use magic if I can help it," Harry commented. "Let's just say that I consider it a challenge to do things without relying on the crutch. That's not to say I can't pull it out and excel at it if the situation mandated it."

"Right," Gwen said, wondering where this one was going.

"But there are many forms of magic that is passive as opposed to active," Harry explained to her. "Bonding magic is one of those. There is a bond that is formed between the two of us, just like other women that I sleep with. Some bonds are stronger than others. It's relatively new on your end, so you don't hear the other people figured into the network don't yet. But there's a strand that I can track that will grow stronger over time."

"I thought I might have felt something, but I chalked it up to stress," Gwen said.

"Always follow your first instinct," Harry warned her. "The bond forms slowly, so you don't get overwhelmed. Being the Master of the Collective Network, I can choose to increase or decrease the frequency, depending on various factors. And you know, I don't want people to get scared off right away by hearing voices in their head."

Gwen laughed despite herself. It was the first genuine laugh she had all day. She was grateful that Harry brought her spirits up before they were sent crashing down.

"So, I did feel something on my end," Gwen offered him and Harry smiled at her in response. "And what are the perks and benefits of this?"

"We can discuss that at another time," Harry said, slapping Schultz across the back of the head, knocking him back out again. "I think we better interrogate our prisoner."

"You know, we should likely stop knocking him out, before we give him a concussion," Gwen suggested. Harry looked at her with a bemused expression on his face, along with a raised eyebrow. "Oh, I know, it's likely too late for that, but still?"

Harry smiled and looked at the top of a half-finished building that was on the construction site. He had a good idea what he wanted to do next.

"And for the record, you know that Ben wouldn't want you to blame yourself for what happened," Harry said. Gwen nodded in response. Harry could tell instantly she had a protest already ready to go.

"I know but it's…"

Harry placed his finger on her lips and stopped her. He swept her into a tight hug and pulled her in tight. His lips planted onto hers with an intense kiss. Gwen closed her eyes and felt the rush of the moment where Harry wrapped his arms around her tightly.

She draped her leg over the edge of his hip, getting a little bit daring with herself. The two of them broke apart. A silent promise was given to do this later.

"Okay, let's interrogate this bastard," Gwen said. Her eyes flashed down towards him.

"I have an idea."

Gwen was both excited and afraid by this. She allowed Harry to lead the way because he was the one with the reality bending powers. She only could climb walls and do fancy acrobatics. Also there was the strength and quick reflexes things.

Okay there were a few more powers.

* * *

><p>Herman Schultz's head throbbed. The criminal wasn't having a day. He took a few seconds to realize that he wasn't on his back. He was hanging upside down. The man let out a string of obscenities that would make Yosemite Sam blush.<p>

The construction site would have to be an extremely tall sky scraper. It was an office building, maybe, he didn't know.

He was hog tied and hung over the edge of the ledge.

"I'll give you one piece of friendly advice," the girl in the hoodie whispered. "I wouldn't look down if I were you."

"LET ME GO YOU STUPID BITCH!" Schultz yelled and Gwen loosened the grip that she had on the rope just slightly. If it wasn't for her holding him up, he would have plummeted to his death.

"Are you really sure that you want me to let you go now?" Gwen asked. "Because I think that if I drop you, it will only be an improvement to your good looks."

Gwen turned around to Harry who stood in the shadows. He smiled at her.

"Should I do it?"

He made a swift motion with his hand to give her the go ahead. She let go of the wire suddenly and Schultz screamed at the top of his lungs. He nearly hurled to the ground.

Something stopped him. His entire life flashed before him, not that it was much to write home about. His heart thundered across his chest when he kept breathing heavily.

Gwen hauled him back up by the wire. She was pretty sure that she had her point sunk in. The man still cursed at her when she brought him back up. She honestly didn't care about that.

"I swear to go….."

"Let me make one thing perfectly clear. As long as I'm here, for all intents and purposes, I am God."

There was a shudder down his spine. He wasn't that intimidated by some bitch, not that he would ever say it to her face. Not after he nearly had a face first encounter with the pavement. This guy on the other hand, oh boy this guy. This guy was someone who would rip him apart and feast on his remains for dinner. There was absolutely no question in his mind about that one.

"I'm going to cut to the chase," Gwen said. Her voice lacked humor and she made sure to let him know that his entire life rested in the palm of his hands. "I'm going to ask you a few questions and I better like the answers. Or…..well you remember the warning that you got."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, yeah, right," Schultz muttered. The fact he nearly plummeted to the pavement was fresh in his mind.

"So, you better talk and fast, and if you're lying, I'll know."

Schultz blanched when he heard these two talk. "I could have sworn that there was supposed to be a good cop."

The hand from the shadows made one motion and Gwen almost let go again. Schultz screamed.

"Alright, alright, I'll talk!"

"Good boy," Gwen said. He was face to face with her even though he couldn't really see his face. Gwen gave him a few seconds to stop shitting himself before she spoke. "Where is Dennis Carradine?"

"I don't know!"

Gwen's body language told him all that he needed to know.

"I haven't seen him since he knocked that Parker guy off, only talked to him…..it was on a payphone when I did, and he spoke to me on a cell phone that he threw away," Schultz said. "You know, one of those disposable cell phone things, the type that you get at the dollar store for cheap, that you can break easily."

"You said that Carradine was responsible for getting ahold of your shipment."

"Yeah, but that was before he went underground, he didn't exactly leave more a forwarding address," Schultz said. He was terrified beyond belief. "Look, I have rights, you can't do this to me. Not without my…."

"You don't have any rights as far as I'm concerned," Harry said crisply. "But thankfully for your sake, I know you're telling the truth. So you get to breath for today."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Schultz said. He felt like he had been given a reprieve from Death Row. This guy was like the fucking Grim Reaper and Herman was spared for being too pathetic to die. Or something along those lines.

"But, we're not done with you yet," Gwen said. She decided to switch to a different tactic. "Where did Carradine get his stock from?"

"Some guy in the Russian Mafia, his name is Aleksei Sytsevich," Herman said. He wondered when his torment would end. He hoped to wake up in his apartment, surrounded by cheap hooch and bad takeout. "But everyone calls him the Rhino. He might…..he might know where Dennis is, but I sure as hell don't."

Gwen and Harry thought the same thing. This was tangible information they could use.

"Is there anything else you'd like to share with us?" Harry asked.

Herman was scared to death because of this shapeless and faceless figure that was in the shadows. "Yes….I wet my bed until I was thirteen."

"Eww, that's a bit too much for my liking," Gwen said. Her nose wrinkled up in disgust. She walked over. "Well, it was nice talking to you Herman. That should hold you at least long enough for the police to arrive."

Gwen wrapped her arm around Harry and he teleported both of them off of the building. They left Herman dangling.

"YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS!"

The man's screams got more prominent and pleading the longer he hung up outside of the building. The obvious thing was that he slowly came to the crushing realization that they weren't coming back to cut him down, no matter how hard he pled and begged.

All he would have to do is take his chances with the police. It would be better than taking his chances with this guy.

* * *

><p>Gwen sighed; this was a long day to be honest. The blonde stripped off her hoodie. Now she wore nothing but a sport's bra and ass hugging workout pants.<p>

"Would it help if I said that I was sorry?" Gwen asked to him.

Harry didn't say anything for a few seconds.

"I wish you would have told me what you were doing," Harry said. He stripped off his jacket. When he was done, he wore nothing but a t-shirt and a pair of pants. It was a very fetching look for him. "I can't lecture you too much without punching my hypocrite card."

Gwen raised her eyebrow. She could feel Harry approach her. Now she knew the bond link was formed she was being aware of certain things happening to her. Her senses got more acute because of the spider thing but there was something else happening to her now.

"So you would have done the same thing in my place?" Gwen prodded. She figured that if anyone would understand, it would be Harry.

"I would have done the same thing in your place," Harry confirmed to her. He reached forward and placed his hand on hers. "We need to figure out what we have to do with what Schultz told us, you know."

His hand squeezed hers. Gwen almost could feel some kind of lecture coming on.

"And you shouldn't feel responsible for him getting away," Harry said. He looked her dead on in the eye. "You had no knowledge that was going to happen at all. Absolutely none at all, so don't go beating yourself up about that."

Gwen's protest burned on the tip of her tongue.

"No, I did have a responsibility to stop someone like that before they could hurt people," Gwen said. She let go of his hand and leaned back. Harry gently grabbed her by the shoulders. "You know, with all of this great power that I have I just…..I just figured that I could make some kind of difference in the world. You know, I could do something that might make the world a better place. Is that really too much to ask?"

Harry smiled in response and spoke to her. "With great power, there must also come great responsibility."

Gwen blinked.

"How did you….."

She trailed off. Harry smiled once more at her.

"Ben told me about that," Harry said. His hand never left hers this time when he grabbed onto it. "And you got to admit, he does have a point."

"Now do you understand why I feel guilty?" Gwen asked. Her bright blue eyes met his haunting green ones.

Harry allowed the two of them to enjoy the moment. After that moment was sufficiently done, he spoke.

"Told you Gwen, I would have done the same thing that you would have done," Harry said to her. His hand tightened around hers. Gwen was glad and she felt the flowing of power going through them. "But if you're going to do this, then I'm going to help you. And if you're going to do this, then you're going to do this right."

"Right, what do you….."

Harry cleared his throat. Gwen blushed when he spoke. She gave him a small sound that told him to continue.

"I won't lie with the Russian Mafia involved, we have a pretty daunting task ahead of us," Harry said. He made sure Gwen stared him straight in his eyes. "They chew up trained professionals and spit them out. You're making some extremely powerful enemies if you open up this powder keg."

"Something that you know from experience?" Gwen asked.

"Something I know from experience," Harry agreed. "Today you did well. But you went up against a group of ill-trained thugs. Thugs you got the jump on."

"Were you there the entire time?" Gwen asked. She didn't want to sound too accusatory but Harry hadn't said how long Harry was there.

"Not the entire time, but I did get to see you in action," Harry told her. She nodded in response. "From what I saw, there is some raw potential you have. Against professionals however, I would have had to do more direct intervention. The kind that I hope that I never have to do."

Gwen knew what he was referring to.

"You don't have any formal training outside of self-defense classes you take," Harry replied to her. "Good against small time thugs, not good against hardened Russian mobsters, but the headset was a pretty nice touch."

Gwen smiled and nodded.

"But speaking of the Russian mob, you're going to have make some enemies," Harry told her. This was the part that he didn't really want to get into. "And your disguise…..well I'll be perfectly blunt, it's not good. The glasses and the hood, those could easily come off in the heat of the battle. You were lucky that they didn't come off."

Gwen nodded. She needed better training and a better costume.

"The better training and the better costume is pretty easy," Harry confirmed to her. "But you're going to need some better equipment. If you want this entire Spider-Girl thing to go down right, I have a way to give some webbing. Of course for all I know you could start shooting webbing out of your….."

"Harry!" Gwen yelled. She couldn't believe that he would go there. She didn't want him to go there but the spiders were uncharted territory. She didn't know what the further evolution of her would end up. "Seriously, Spider-Girl?"

"Yeah, I'm not too fond of codenames on principle, but you're going to need one before someone else names you something entirely stupid," Harry said. She nodded. "And you're going to need a better costume. Something you can really use and I'll be perfectly honest, we're going to have to let someone in to make it for you. Because I don't see you doing it that well."

Gwen frowned at him. "I can sew."

Harry raised his eyebrow. It was amazing how fast Gwen wilted underneath that look from Harry.

"Okay, I can sew, but I can't sew that well," she muttered. She felt embarrassed by that. "Well if I can't sew, how about MJ? She can sew pretty well. She had to do it for costumes for the drama club."

"Hmm," Harry said. That was all he said.

Gwen's eyes snapped completely onto his. She put her eyes down for a brief second to hide her embarrassment.

"What's wrong than that?" Gwen asked. "Unless you have some secret talents that…"

"I'm just saying that she could be brought in," Harry said. Gwen nodded in response. "But the real question is do you really want to bring her into this entire mess?"

Gwen thought about it and shook her head.

"Okay, MJ is out," Gwen said. She was getting desperate. A burst of sudden inspiration struck her. "Okay, can you just magic something up or something like that?"

The only answer Harry had was laughter and lots of it.

"What?" Gwen asked. She nearly snapped when she spoke. She felt kind of annoyed. "What's so funny?"

"I could but it might not be a good idea," Harry explained. "Magic is tricky and creating clothes using magic that you want to last still needs some kind of sewing talent. If it was only simple enough to conjure up everything, there would be no such thing as poverty."

Gwen nodded. That made sense.

"Any kind of costume just conjured by magic will dissolve without hours," Harry said. She nodded. "And knowing Murphy's Law, it will dissolve when you're in the middle of battle."

Gwen winced. That was a no go.

"Thankfully I know someone who will be discreet and will love to help with something like this," Harry said. Gwen's interest piqued. "And she'll make sure that you'll get something that's both stylish and practical."

Gwen grinned in response. She had a pretty good idea who Harry was talking about now.

"What did you mean by giving me webs?"

Harry pulled out a napkin from his pocket. "This was a formula created by a super sticky adhesive by Richard Parker."

"But it isn't finished," Gwen said. That was one point that struck her immediately when she looked at it.

"I think between the two of us we can finish it," Harry said. Gwen smiled. It was obvious that she saw this as a challenge. "Especially considering we have access to advances and knowledge in technology that Richard Parker just simply didn't have. And with my background in engineering, once the formula is created, I should be able to create some kind of device to fire them."

Gwen pushed herself onto Harry's lap during the course of the conversation. Her arms wrapped around Harry's neck.

"You know, I think that I owe you an apology for running off on you when I should have told you what I was doing," Gwen said. Her voice was low when she spoke to him. Her hot breath was on his ear.

Harry smiled, gripping her firm rear from behind. Two could play that game. His arm wrapped around her waist.

His lips found hers and he kissed her. His tongue forced its way into her mouth. Not to be outdone, Gwen pushed back into his mouth. Their tongues clashed for domination.

Gwen felt his hands press against her bare flesh. It was like fire coursing through her body. She couldn't get enough of it.

"Harry, I need you."

Gwen felt herself pushed back onto the bed. His hands pinned her wrists back onto the bed. He started to kiss down her mostly bare top half. There was nothing but a sports bra covering her ample breasts.

"I can see that."

Hormones ran wild and it was only logical what came next.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued on 1217/2014. **


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve.**

* * *

><p>Gwen and Harry slept for a couple of hours after their extra curricular activities. After that was out of the way it was time to get up and time to give Spider-Girl her webs as Harry promised. Gwen stirred herself awake first and waited for Harry to do the same.<p>

"So, are you ready to get to work?" Gwen asked. She didn't wait for Harry's answer. "You know we should use the napkin as a starting base."

"Yes," Harry agreed. It took a couple of moments for his head to be on straight when he woke up. "Let's get dressed and we should pick up some supplies from the hardware store."

"Do you think that you can hook me up something here?" Gwen asked Harry. He raised his eyebrow at her in response. The blonde wilted in surprise.

"If I can't hook up something for you, then we'd both be in big trouble," Harry admitted to her. Gwen let out the breath in her body. "Stay there and take a look at the formula. I'll be back in about fifteen minutes."

"Okay," Gwen said. She stole one quick kiss from Harry. He disappeared in a flash.

'_No matter how many times he does that, it never will cease to amaze me,' _Gwen said. She picked up the napkin and she spread it out. She shook her head and got back to work. _'Okay, it's a good starting point like Harry said. And between the two of us, with our grounding in chemistry we should be able to get something going.'_

Gwen waited a few minutes for Harry to return. She looked up and seconds later he returned for her. There was a bag right in his hand."

"I've been looking over the formula and I've got a few suggestions," Gwen said. He sat down beside him. She checked the time. "But first….I better check in with my father."

"Go ahead, I've got some notes to make myself," Harry said.

Gwen walked her way to the next room so she could get the call. She was pretty sure that Harry could hear her conversation but that didn't really matter.

"Hello, Dad?" Gwen asked him over the phone. "Yeah, you still sound like crap, you're right. I didn't come back home because I wanted to check up with Harry. I went over to visit MJ after that and I just crashed at her place. Yeah, eat something, please. And no, coffee isn't a food group."

The conversation lasted for another couple of moments past that. Harry was engrossed in his work but he half heard the conversation.

"I'll be heading out now, Gwen," George told her. Gwen smiled but didn't say anything. "We might see each other tonight. It depends on several things."

"Well, do your best out there to stay safe," Gwen said. "And get something to eat again."

There was a second where they said their goodbyes. Gwen turned and saw an extremely amused Harry waiting for her.

"So, do you mind if I ask you a question?" Harry asked. There was a look on Gwen's face that showed that she didn't mind at all. He was busy putting together web shooters. "Is that what you normally tell your father when you're over at my place in the evening?"

"Well, I normally tell him that I'm over at MJ's or Liz's, and they'll cover for me if he asks," Gwen said. The fact that he never did really wasn't the point. "Plus, you know it's some kind of girlfriend code thing. You know, kind of like the bro-code. Only for females. "

"I wouldn't know," Harry muttered to himself. He made an adjustment.

"I suppose that I could have told him the truth," Gwen said. She shrugged her shoulders. "He does like you. But no father wants to admit that his sixteen year old girl is sexually active. Even if the father does like the boyfriend in question."

"Fair enough," Harry said. Gwen sat herself down behind the lab table. "So, what do you think?"

"I think that you did a pretty good job in filling in the blanks," Gwen said to him. She double checked his work. Most frustratingly, she couldn't find a single flaw in it. "And do you have much of the necessary down here?"

"Yes I do," Harry confirmed for him. He got out the chemicals that were needed. She helped him by getting out the vials. Her eyes lingered on the makeshift web shooters that rested on the table. "I know, but they work in a pinch."

"I wasn't saying anything," Gwen said. "That's why it's called a prototype isn't it?"

"Yes," Harry said. He slowly started to mix up the web chemicals. He hoped that this would work.

A silver device was removed from the bag. He pried it open.

"This should contain the fluid and is hooked in the quick release," Harry said. He demonstrated to Gwen how it worked, first with the empty cartridge. He waited for the web fluid to settle and then he filled up the cartridge.

"And it snaps inside just like that?" Gwen asked. She put the now full web shooter cartridge into the shooter. "And then…"

"Press that button off to the side," Harry pointed to her. He made sure the prototype shooter strapped to Gwen's wrist. "You better be careful not to exert that much pressure. You want to hit the target."

Harry magically drew a target on the wall. Gwen closed her eyes and she pressed the button.

The cartridge exploded when it was supposed to be released. The web fluid splattered onto Gwen's face and covered it completely. If someone walked in right now, they would get the wrong picture with things.

To her credit, Gwen took things in good humor. "I think that we might still have a few bugs that we have to work out."

* * *

><p>"Okay, they work better," Gwen said. The good old fashioned tactic of trial and error managed to get things together. There was one sticking point, pardon the pun, for the blonde. "But I have a question about the wrist bands."<p>

"Just a prototype Gwen," Harry reminded her. She folded her arms, telling him that she was well aware of that. She frowned deeply in response. "They're big and clunky yes…"

"I'm not a proto-Goth like MJ you know," Gwen said. She smirked slightly. "Otherwise I would need the collar to go with them. Because these look like really large leather bands. And I doubt that's the look we want. Unless you want to change my codename to Bondage Queen."

"Interesting thought," Harry said to her. "But no."

"I wonder if Mary Jane is into bondage, she does seem like the type," Gwen murmured. It was done more to herself than Harry but it sent his mind into some interesting places.

"Interesting thought," Harry repeated to himself. He cleared his head with a brief shake. "I know that the straps seem large but they're just to support your weight. And so they don't break because of your strength."

"Fine," Gwen said. She was willing to overlook that point if it worked out. There was only one thing left to do. "So, maybe this time I won't look like an extra in a Bukkake."

"Likely not, but you never know," Harry said. "So, I'm ready when you are. One more round of tests. We'll see if these work."

Gwen aimed her webs and prepared to take fire. The results were mostly acceptable. There was one thing for sure and that was that Spider-Girl had her webs. That was a promising start to their plans.

* * *

><p>A man sat himself down on a bench at Central Park. The latest copy of the Daily Bugle was in front of him. The Parker home invasion was highlighted. There was also an article about how the crazed serial killer targeted another family. The results were considered to be too brutal to be written about.<p>

The man was Harold Osborn's minder known as Shaw. He read the Daily Bugle. He got his vacation with the rich brat that he was tasked with so he was in a pretty good mood.

There was a man dressed in sweat pants and a hooded sweatshirt who jogged towards him. At first, Shaw didn't even bother to look up at him. There were people who jogged by him every single day in the park.

The man skidded to a stop in front of Shaw. Shaw looked up, his eyebrow raised when he leaned on in towards him.

"May I help you?" Shaw asked him.

The man in the jogging outfit looked around to make sure that no one was listening. "You used to work for SHIELD?"

There was really no point in hiding that because he long since cut his ties to that organization. There was a clash of ideals and let's just leave it at that.

"Is it true or not?" the man asked. Shaw paused and nodded. "Then you must have access to some high level files."

Shaw nodded. He was guilty as charged.

"I have a high level job for you," the man in the jogging outfit said. Shaw's eyes averted towards him. "If you're interested?"

"Let's see what you got," Shaw said. The man reached into his coat and pulled out a picture towards him. "Who is that?"

"Look at the back of the picture," the jogging suit man said. Shaw did. "Does the name seem familiar to you?"

The name "Dennis Carradine" was clear on the picture in elegant handwriting. It was a name that many people might be familiar with given current events in the news. There was only a big manhunt out for him.

* * *

><p>Van Dyne Industries was an elegant facility. It was actually one of many although this was the main headquarters. Thus this was the headquarters that they needed to be out. Harry pushed open the front doors and allowed Gwen to walk inside.<p>

Gwen took a couple of steps forward. The blonde whistled impressed beyond her belief. She realized how much of a fan girl she looked like when she spoke. Harry gave her an amused gaze and she fell back into line.

When that was done, Harry made his way to the front desk. The clerk at the front desk looked up to acknowledge her arrival.

"Hello, I'm Harry Parker, this is Gwen Stacy, we're here to Janet Van Dyne."

The security guard took about a minute to check the security register. "Yes, Miss Van Dyne told me to expect both of you. She's waiting for both of you."

The security badges were brought up and given to both Harry and Gwen. The two of them put them on.

"Where can we find her?" Harry asked.

"She's on the ninth floor," the clerk said to him. She looked at Harry in the way that most women did. She cleared her throat. "Is there anything else that you need from me?"

"No, thank you," Harry said. She offered his arm to Gwen. The two of them made their way up towards the elevator. "You have a nice day."

The two of them made their way towards the elevator. A man with sandy hair, dressed in a formal suit joined them. He didn't really make any eye contact.

"Could you please hit number five?"

His arms were full of various blueprints that overflowed in his arms. Harry, who was closest to the elevator button, did as he was asked. The man gave a stiff nod.

Gwen frowned, she wondered if he was part robot. If he wasn't, his brain waves might be a good template for one.

"Nice day, isn't it?"

"I can't complain," Harry said. The casual small talk made was very intriguing.

Gwen could have sworn that she saw this person before. The blonde spent several moments of her life trying to rack her brain.

The man got off on his stop at the fifth floor. He walked out without saying too many words to him. Gwen turned towards Harry. It clicked in her brain where she should have recognized him from.

"So, was that him?" Gwen asked. Harry looked for confirmation. Gwen decided to give it to him. "You know Ant-Man?"

"Well he doesn't really like to be called that," Harry said. Gwen smiled.

"I didn't call it him that to his face," Gwen said. She crossed her arms. "But that's what he's best known for. His studies on ants. You know, Ant Man."

"Yes, I know, Doctor Henry Pym," Harry said. He decided to give Gwen a little bit of backstory to help fill in the blanks. "He worked with Jan's father. She might have had a bit of a crush on him. He hasn't been the same since his wife died."

Gwen frowned. "Was that before or after he became a bit too obsessed with his ants?"

"That was before, it might have been the reason why he threw himself into his studies," Harry said. "The point is he is a bit….off, but he is brilliant."

"Not the type of guy that you'd invite to your dinner parties though?" Gwen asked him. Harry shook his head in response. She smiled. "I thought so."

Gwen had another question.

"So how do you know Janet Van Dyne?" Gwen asked him.

"We share some of the same classes at ESU," Harry said. "And we got to know each other fairly well. And she owes me a favor, but I think that she'd help without owing me one."

Gwen decided not to ask the nature of the favor that Jan owed Harry. She was spared from continuing this conversation any further when the duo made their way to the ninth floor.

"So, where do we….."

"HARRY!"

It turned out that the two of them didn't have that entirely far to go. Jan came bounding out of the lab. She dressed in an elegant three piece business suit with her hair tied back slightly. She bounded over towards him and wrapped her arms around him in a hug.

"It's so good to see you," she said. Her voice bubbled over. Gwen smiled at her. Jan's attention towards her. "And you must be Gwen Stacy. Harry's told me so much about you, and I've been dying to meet you."

Gwen raised her eyebrow. She turned towards Harry. He had an unapologetic look on his face. "Oh he has, has he?"

"Oh, it's been good, trust me," Jan said. Her expression grew suddenly serious when she looked at Harry. "So how have you been holding up?"

"As well as can be expected given the circumstances," Harry said. Jan nodded. She led them over to the lab area.

"We shouldn't be bothered in here," Jan said. She turned her attention momentarily to Gwen. "If you could strip down please, we'd be good to go."

Gwen shrugged her shoulders and did as she was asked. Jan checked the doors to make sure they were shut.

"No one saw us go up," Jan said. She frowned. "Which is a good thing….not that I don't mind talking to you or being seen with you, it's just….well…let's see if we can get her situated."

No sooner did she finish, Gwen already stripped her clothes off. She wore a blue and red pairs of lacy bra and panties. She walked inside. Jan's eyes lingered on her body for a second.

"Right, let's see what we can do to her," Jan said. She motioned for Gwen to sit down a table. She did as was directed. Jan fished a measuring tape out of the drawer and made the measurements that she needed to design a costume. "Well there are a few options that would work pretty well, you know."

Jan racked her brain. She smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"For you though, I think that high tech swimwear fabric would work the best," Jan said. She made a few more measurements. Her hand rested on Gwen's inner thigh for a moment and she adjusted things. "Need to make sure I'm through. Don't worry, I won't bite."

Jan finished making the measurements. The sketchpad she had it was completed. She went into a zone that was scary and focused. With another motion, she made herself to the table. There were several pieces of paper. Several colored pencils pulled out onto the desk. She started to sketch various designs that she thought might work.

Gwen watched her. This was an intensity that she didn't think was healthy. Jan took her work very seriously. She turned towards Harry. She raised her eyebrow and gave him one of those "what the hell did you get me into?" types of looks. It was extremely intense and Harry smiled when he shook his head.

Jan was in her element now. Gwen was about ready to open her mouth to answer a question. Harry placed two fingers on her lips to cease any attempts to talk.

"It's best not to interfere with her when she's like this," Harry said. She raised her eyebrow in surprise. "Just trust me on that."

Gwen trusted Harry on that. It seemed like he spoke from some kind of experience. Exactly what she couldn't be for sure but the experience he had was there.

Jan finished several sketches. The dark haired woman walked them over towards Harry and Gwen. An intense look flashed through her eyes.

She turned towards a tack board and tacked them up. Gwen looked at them. She might not be the teenage girl who enjoyed high fashion. She did know what she liked.

"Pick one," Jan offered. She felt that it was best to give this girl options.

Gwen looked at all of the sketches. This was trickier than she thought it was. Each of the sketches had their elements that she liked. One in particular stood completely out to her. The blonde's lips curled into a smile.

"I think we've found our match."

Jan corked her eyebrow. She saw what Gwen picked out. She had to admit, she could see why she would be partial to that one.

"Now it's time to get to work."

* * *

><p>Gwen chose her to design and Harry and Gwen both were shooed out of Jan's workspace. This was for the best as far as both of them were concerned. They had other places to be and Jan had plenty of work to do.<p>

The two of them stopped to pick up to lunch. It was on the way to their next stop. The couple was off to the Daily Bugle to visit Mary Jane.

'_So how are you handling this?' _Harry asked to her. He was slowly bringing Gwen onto the mental network. It was like babysteps getting her on but he worked things over.

'_A bit weird at first, but it's convenient,' _Gwen admitted. She decided to go back to the conversation at hand. _'So, are we going to work on MJ? It shouldn't be too hard.'_

'_It's the chase, the thrill of the hunt where the true glory lies,' _Harry told her. Gwen's wicked grin spread over her face.

'_Well, she was trapped the moment that she came across us a while back,' _Gwen said. _'You know what I'm talking about.'_

'_Yes,' _Harry confirmed. _'I figured that you might have caught her. And we put on a bit of a show for her.'_

'_Well that wasn't completely intention,' _Gwen admitted to him. _'But you know that it worked out for the best with her. And we can…..'_

The two of them stopped at the front of the Bugle office. They could hear a voice yelling about something or another.

'_That must be Jameson,' _Gwen thought in a casual voice. She was sure that she could hear his voice if she stood right in Jersey and he was on the other side of the country. _'But, we're slowly easing her into things. And we might be able to figure out whether or she is into bondage.'_

That was an interesting theory as per usual. It brought Harry's mind to the happy place one expected it to go.

'_You seem awfully intent of wanting to get MJ into bed,' _Harry thought.

Gwen crossed her arms in response. _'Oh, it's not like you don't.'_

'_We all have to have our long term projects,' _Harry said. Gwen straightened up and laughed. If that wasn't the truth, she didn't know what was. MJ really was the epitome of an extremely long term project for him.

They moved through the bullpen. Obviously Jameson's voice could be more prominent the further they walked inside. It wasn't exactly the epitome of an indoor voice. They spotted the object of their most recent conversation talking. She talked to an extremely attractive brunette dressed in female business attire.

Her desk was right next to the office of the jolly one himself. Harry and Gwen both pitied her.

"Harry, Gwen!" Mary Jane yelled. She detached herself away from the conversation from her. She could feel a stomach pang coming up. It had been a while since she ate. She really regretted her decision to skip breakfast. She saw the bag of Chinese food. "Oh, Harry, food? Oh thank you, I could kiss you for this."

She realized what she said and she looked flushed. Gwen smiled at her in response. "Well don't let me stop you."

That caused Mary Jane's flushing to go as nearly deep as her hair. She shook her head. The brunette looked amused.

"This is Betty Brant, I'm working underneath her this summer," Mary Jane said. She averted her eyes to Gwen for a second. "Betty, this is Gwen Stacy and Harry Evans-Parker."

"YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN THE PICTURES WHILE YOU HAD THE CHANCE! I'M NOT PAYING YOU TO HAVE YOUR THUMB UP YOUR ASS WHEN YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING, BROCK!"

"Yes, I have to deal with that every day," Betty said. There was nothing but a sharp smile on her face. She tried to keep a straight face. It was really hard to do considering the circumstances. "But I suppose that's just worth the paycheck. And I have to be his personal assistant on top of everything else."

"But you're a reporter?" Harry asked. Betty nodded. "And then why….."

"Jameson's too cheap to hire anyone else and no one would be willing to work for his…"

"That's it Brock, if you can't shape up, then get out! You're lucky enough to work for tabloids with your attitude."

Betty sighed for a second. "Well, do I need to draw you a diagram about why people might not want to take the job?"

"No, I think that I've got a live demonstration," Harry said. "Must make you happy to get out of the office when you can."

Betty shrugged things off. "Oh, I get used to it, believe me."

"Guess that you would have to do or go insane," Gwen said.

"The folder couldn't have grown legs and walked out the door, Robbie!" Jameson yelled abruptly.

Betty reached over onto her desk and sighed. Jameson brought the folder out here and promptly dropped it on her desk. She figured that he'd forget about it.

"Five, four, three, two, one," Betty murmured underneath her breath. This was both a countdown of Jameson going off and also a countdown to keep her stress levels from hitting fatal.

"MISS BRANT!" Jameson bellowed.

"Coming," Betty said swiftly. She only had to turn around and stick her head into the office.

She retreated to get him the folder in question. Mary Jane raised her eyebrow.

"I'm surprised that you haven't delved into the food yet," Harry said, smiling at her.

Before Mary Jane could answer, Betty exited the office. An apologetic look crossed her face when she returned.

"Got some other things to dig up that might have grown legs and walked," Betty said. She shook her head in bemusement. "It was nice meeting the two of you. Too bad it was too short lived."

"Yeah too bad," Harry agreed with her. "Maybe another time."

"Yes, maybe, when Jonah finally loses his voice,' Betty muttered. Harry wasn't completely sure that she meant to say that last part out loud.

Mary Jane gave an extremely un-lady like snort in response. "Yeah, that'd be the day, wouldn't it?"

Harry smiled and turned towards her. "So lunch?"

"Yeah, lunch," Mary Jane agreed. She positively beamed at him when she spoke.

A calculating look spread over Gwen's face. It was one of those looks that said to let the games begin. She might have rubbed her hands together, if she didn't look like such an evil and calculating super villain in the process.

The three of them sat down for lunch and chatted lightly. In between periodic Jameson level interruptions.

* * *

><p>Harry and Gwen made their way back to Jan's much later in the day. She gave them a call about a half of an hour before they showed up. It was a high priority order, so she was willing to get it done. For a client like Harry, you didn't wait around. Especially given an endorsement from someone like him could mean everything.<p>

Jan didn't do it for the endorsement but it sweetened the pot a little bit.

Gwen currently made her way into the bathroom to try on her new costume.

"So, I hope that she is happy with it," Jan said to Harry. She stood in front of him. He towered over her. He towered over a lot of women but given that she was tiny, he looked like a giant.

"Are you happy with it?" Harry asked to her.

Jan took a half of a step towards him. She stood where her head practically rested on his chest. She had a grin. His hands rested on her to hold her up as well.

"If she's happy with it, then I'm happy about it," Jan admitted. She gave a smirk and shook her head. "You know what they say. The client is always right, especially in circumstances like this."

He smiled when he held her in tight to him. He bent down and whispered into her ear.

"But I know that you have a great deal of professional pride in what you do," Harry whispered to her. Jan looked at him, with a grin. He placed his hand on the side of her face. "And you wouldn't have called us here if you didn't get something done that you weren't completely satisfied with."

Jan grinned. She gave one of those guilty as charged looks. The number of broken pencils that were in her office when she wasn't happy with a design was proof that backed off Harry. When she got going, she got going.

"I can't wait to see the finished product," Jan said. She shifted herself, still resting her head on Harry's shoulder. She wrapped her arm around her face. "And you know, if you ever want me to design you anything…."

"Yeah, that'd be the day," Harry said. She pouted but Harry patted her on the head. "And while I'm sure that you'd do a good job, I can't see myself being the type to go out there ever again."

"Oh, I'm sure that I could find you a design that would make you think twice," Jan said. The tone and inflection in her voice indicated that she saw some kind of challenge.

That challenge would have to wait until later. The door creaked open and Gwen walked outside.

The costume was two separate colors. The high level swimwear fabric stretched over Gwen's ample curves. The red mask started at the top of her body, with eyeholes in it so she could see. High end technology could be implanted into the mask with how it was designed. The top half of her was a red pattern with blue webbing like designs down the front of her. A blue spider etched on her chest, nestled between her breasts. It could be armored easily. She wasn't entirely sure she was bullet proof. She wasn't about to test that out. The button half of the costume was a dark blue. It fit snugly around her ass.

"So, how do I look?" Gwen asked. She struck a pose in her costume.

Harry would have to say that Jan exceeded all expectations. Judging by the look on her face, hers especially.

Jan's eyes looked her up and down. She whistled. Seeing was in fact believing and she saw something spectacular. "Darling, you look amazing."

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued On December 19<strong>**th****, 2014. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: **

* * *

><p>A man with grey hair and a porn mustache exited the elevator. He was a fairly well built man all things considered although he would not be one to stand out in a crowd. He exited the elevator with a briefcase in his hand. He walked down the hallway at a building that was the main headquarters of Trask Industries.<p>

His name was Bolivar Trask and he looked like a man on a mission. His eyes pointed forward when he continued to walk. He stopped at his secretary's desk that was situated outside of his main office.

"Good morning," Trask said. His demeanor was entirely professional. His secretary, a young woman with curly blonde hair, gave him a smile.

"Good morning, Mr. Trask," she commented. She drank a cup of coffee. "Just so you know, you have a meeting with Norman Osborn scheduled shortly. And you know how hard it will be to reschedule it, especially with a man as busy as Mr. Osborn."

Trask suddenly snapped his fingers and smiled. "Yes, Osborn, of course. Thank you for reminding me, I had almost forgotten. I won't miss it…..I just got something to take care of in my office before the meeting. It shouldn't take that long."

Trask bid his secretary a goodbye before he walked into his office. The man lightly set the briefcase on top of his desk. He sat down in his chair for a moment. He reached up to rest his chin on his hand. He took a brief second to look through his office with narrowed eyes.

When he was done doing that, he reached underneath his desk. He pushed in a concealed button. He waited a few seconds before he heard something that was music to his ears.

There was an audible click. One of the nearby book shelves split open to reveal a large metal vault. Said vault had an extremely high tech lock but that was no matter to him. He walked towards the fault. It had two pronged security. There was an eye and finger print scanner hooked into the vault.

Trask accessed the vault and slipped inside. He made his way inside a cryogenic storage vault. He looked around and found what he was looking for. There was a miniature vault with the word "Parker" printed on it.

Carefully, he accessed it and retracted a canister from it. Now that he got what he came for, Trask opened up his briefcase. Anyone who looked inside could see a high level refrigeration unit. He could carefully store the briefcase.

No sooner did he do it, a candle flickered to life. He heard the office door open behind him. Trask's secretary led Norman Osborn and Donald Menken into the office.

"Mr. Trask, good morning to you," Osborn said. He reached forward and gave Trask a firm handshake.

Trask's grip was firm but not too firm.

"Mr. Osborn, a good morning to you as well," Trask said. He casually picked up the briefcase off of his desk. He snapped his fingers. "Something fairly important came up and I was hoping to deal with it before the meeting started."

Norman Osborn nodded in response. "Yes, I run a business, I know how these things can go. Take your time. I cleared out my entire morning for this; we both know how important this is."

"Thank you," Trask said. He scooped the briefcase up and took it out of the room.

Osborn and Menken both sat down on the chairs in the office. They had no reason to suspect that anything out of the ordinary was happening.

Seconds later, the office doors opened up. An extremely ragged looking Trask returned to the office. Osborn raised his eyebrow. He wore a different suit than the one he previously left them in.

"Mr. Osborn, my apologies…"

"No need to apologize," Osborn said. His hand casually waved it off.

"I've been running late this morning, the traffic has been backed up, and I had a new driver today who didn't know his way around town," Trask commented. He was rambling on and didn't really realize it at the time. "And then there was construction on top of them. But I'm here now and we can have this meeting."

Norman took a few minutes to process this information in his mind. Something was up.

"I'm surprised by this, Mr. Trask," Osborn commented. The man turned to Osborn and wondered why he would be surprised like this. "I just spoke with you a matter of moments ago and you said that you had to run off."

That caused Trask's eyes to widen suddenly. The full scope of what Osborn tried to tell him visited him. He wondered if it was a coincidence that he was late to the office.

"Let's get on with the meeting," Trask said. He tried not to seem too worried. There was a chance that Norman Osborn could be mistaken. He doubted it and he wouldn't say it to the man's face but there was a chance.

* * *

><p>It was time for Gwen to test out what her brand new costume could really do. She perched herself on the roof top of a building, ready to go.<p>

'_Can you hear me?' _Harry asked her.

'_Loud and clear, Harry,' _Gwen thought. It was close to sunset so the building she stood atop of basked in a golden light.

Harry parked himself out on a table outside a nearby Café. Earlier in the day, the two of them accessed the NYPD's Criminal Database using Gwen's father's computer. Granted, one could argue that they hacked it but it was just a quick log in and a quick log out. It was nothing that was out of this world.

'_Your father really needs a better password,' _Harry commented. Gwen snorted at his blasé and nonchalant statement. True as it might have been. _'But it was easy to get in and get out along with getting the program that we needed on them. And now we used it to bring up the Sytsevich criminal rap sheet.'_

'_It's a mile wide though,' _Gwen thought. _'Or a mile long rather, but regardless it's a pretty extensive one, isn't it?'_

'_Yep,' _Harry agreed. He consulted the notes that he made which summed up things quite nicely. _'He's got a criminal record and back in Russian, he was part of a medical experiment. Details have been restricted. He's had a few aliases as well that are known, one of them being Alex O'Hirn.'_

Harry paused and allowed that information to sink in.

'_But the list of locations he's known to frequent is what's interest to us,' _Harry mentally continued. _'First one didn't go so well. '_

'_Yeah a club with heavy Russian influence, nothing there,' _Gwen admitted. _'And the second was his last known address. Looks like he hasn't been around there for a long time but you never know until you check. That might be what he wants us to think.'_

Harry would have to agree with this point. _'The third is a warehouse close to the docks that belong to a group of so called legitimate Russian business men.'_

'_Used as a front for them to sell guns and drugs,' _Gwen thought. She held onto her perch point. _'With the first two crossed off our list, it's now onto the third.'_

She really did need some training. The problem was that they needed to act on the information Schultz provided while it was still hot and before her target could get tipped off. Harry was in place, functioning as mission support from a café that was nearby. He could jump in if things got a bit uncomfortable.

The bond allowed him to watch things through her eyes.

'_I'm hacking the cameras now,' _Harry thought. _'So, how are you finding the new costume?'_

'_Good, really, it's excellent,' _Gwen said in with a smile. _'Got the hang of the jumping thing too. First time, I nearly splattered myself on the wall.'_

'_It's all about timing your jumps,' _Harry advised her.

Gwen agreed with that. She made her way as stealthily as she could across the rooftops to the warehouse.

'_The sooner we wrap this up, the better I'll feel,' _Gwen thought. There was a part of her that thought she was nuts going in there.

'_There's a pair of guards across from you, mind them,' _Harry thought. _'If someone raises the alarm, this situation is screwed before it even gets going.'_

Gwen took note of the security guards that were on the roof. She decided to wait to act until they were separated.

She came down behind the first security guard. She crouched down and when he turned around, she webbed his mouth shut. That caused him to not be able to yell out in surprise or pain when she nailed him right in the ribs with a sudden and unexpected attack. The guard was strung up upside down by the webbing. Once the guard circled back around, she would have him and it would be glorious.

She pulled him off of the shadows and dangled up off of a perch point. She laid in wait for the other security guard to come over to check on his buddy.

The other guard scrambled over as quickly as he could go. He saw his fellow guard down on the ground.

The first reaction was shock. The second reaction was to radio in for some back up. Unfortunately, he never got that chance to radio in for help.

She sprung down off of the rooftop and nailed him across the back of the head. Gwen was pleased that she used her momentum with one swift shot.

'_Knocked out,' _Gwen thought. She used the webbing which she was getting more comfortable with using to web him down. _'So are there any more security guards around for me to smack down?'_

'_Nothing,' _Harry thought. He double checked the cameras to ensure that her path was clear and open. _'You are free and clear to go, Gwen.'_

Gwen tried not to look too overtly smug. _'Excellent.'_

Gwen slipped her way in through the skylight.

'_I believe the term you're looking for is Spectacular.'_

* * *

><p>Aleksei Sytsevich, better known as certain circles as the Rhino, stood in the shadows, his arms folded.<p>

"Make sure to get that stuff on through, I don't want any fuck ups," he said. He dressed himself in a stylish suit and was also built like a tank.

He made sure everything ran smoothly as the gangsters were in the middle of unloading a delivery truck. Once that was unloaded, they can load it up with different cargo. The electronics moved out of the truck and they were replaced by guns in the truck. These would make them loads of scratch by selling them on the open market.

In the shadows, Dennis Carradine trailed behind the Rhino.

"Looks like we're going to have a good haul tonight," Sytsevich said. He turned to the men to make sure they were doing their jobs. "Careful, bust one of them and I bust your heads.'

The Rhino turned to Carradine.

"You look jumpier than a cat underneath an entire room full of rocking chairs."

Carradine couldn't believe that he was treating this situation in such a blasé way. Not all of them were blessed to be as dangerous as him.

"So, I guess that you're looking for some place until this shit blows over," the Rhino said. Carradine nodded in response. "I'll see if I can hook you up. But it ain't going to come cheap. And I need to figure out how much your life is work. And I've got a few more problems than that."

Carradine couldn't really bring himself to care about the Rhino's problems. Not that he would say that to the man's face because he had a feeling that he made enough powerful enemies with this one old man.

"We've got a serious fucking problem though and you might as well," the Rhino growled. Carradine turned towards him and he raised his eyebrow. "It's fucking Schultz. You know that bastard got brought in again. Granted, it's nothing new. He seems to be in and out every other day."

Rhino turned around to address his workers.

"Bring that fucking thing in nice and proper like."

Rhino clutched his fingers together. He returned to the conversation that he was having to Carradine. "He's the type to snitch if someone pulls his leg hard enough. Or promises him a lighter sentence, so we got to worry about him."

"How much does he know?" Carradine asked. He suddenly felt more nervous than ever before.

Rhino gave him a grunt. He walked over to ensure that all of the orders were filled. That left Carradine hanging.

He hadn't slept since it happened. The Parker man shouldn't have come home early. It threw him off of his game. After all of his crimes, this was the first one where he was seriously considering the consequences.

"Schultz doesn't know any more than he needs to know, if that answers your question," Rhino said. All of the crates were switched out. Anyone who looked on the outside wouldn't have seen anything but computers and television on the outside. No one would mess with the crates if enough money changed the right hands. "Fucker might think he knows a lot, but he doesn't."

"Does he know enough to….implicate anyone?"

"As long as you do what I say, you won't have to worry about that," Rhino said. His growl was loud. "So, now that this is done, why don't we talk shop?"

Carradine nervously looked over his shoulder.

"Relax, it would take an act of God and enough fire power to bring him down than to get inside," Rhino said. "I've got this place locked up tight. No one's going to get inside. Even the Big Man wouldn't dare."

"The Big Man?" Carradine asked in surprise.

"Never you mind, that's on a need to know basis, and don't ask questions that you might not like the answers to," Rhino growled.

Carradine held up his hands. He didn't mean to offend this man. This man who could break him in half pretty easily if he wanted to was the last person he wanted to offend.

"So, are we going to take care of this, now?" Carradine asked.

Sytsevich shook his head. "Yeah, we're going to have to head our way up to the manager's office. He's going to tell you what you need to do to make sure your debts are fixed."

Carradine felt a growing feeling of dread in his body. The manager's office was upstairs. It overlooked the floor where the Russian mobsters were heavily at work. The two men went over to ascend the stairs.

* * *

><p>Gwen hung upside down and she couldn't believe her eyes.<p>

'_There he is, the bastard that did this,' _Gwen thought. She would have done a jig if it didn't give away her position. Also she didn't want to look absurd of doing so. _'It's both Rhino and Carradine there in the same place. I can get him, and it's over tonight.'_

'_Never expected both of them to be here,' _Harry thought. He snapped his fingers when realization dawned upon him. _'That means that Carradine knows that he's a wounded dog, so be careful. His bite could be bigger than you think.'_

Gwen ran into another problem. There were many armed mobsters. If she was seen, these guys were the type to shoot first and ask questions only when they were standing over her bullet ridden corpse.

'_Don't say it, Harry, '_Gwen thought. She closed her eyes. _'Don't be seen.'_

Gwen made sure she saw the mobsters.

'_The three on your left would be the easiest, and work your way around the room counterclockwise,' _Harry advised it.

'_You know it would be a lot easier if you just pop in here and magic then unconscious or something,' _Gwen said. She almost could see Harry raising his eyebrow though the bond link. She sighed. _'Right, not fun, gotcha.'_

Gwen could certainly do this. Harry had faith in her, more than she had in herself. Gwen aimed the webbing and caught the mobster closest to the back. She pulled him back and slammed him down onto the ground.

The other two mobsters were pulled up. Gwen thought for a moment that she would alert the others.

'_Keep moving,' _Harry prompted her urgently. _'Don't overthink things.'_

Gwen was caught off guard by this unexpected piece of advice. Regardless of what she thought, it was a good idea not to overthink things.

The blonde caught the next pocket of mobsters. The next thing she heard caused chills to roll down her spine.

"SOMEONE'S HERE!"

That lead Gwen to the particularly articulate conclusion she came to next.

'_Fuck.'_

She panicked, she had to work quickly. She knocked a stack of crates over onto the pocket of mobsters. This was a good news and bad news situation.

The good news was the stack of crates knocked out a few of the mobsters. The bad news was that the stack of crates alerted the mobsters she didn't knock out to her exact position.

She used her agility to avoid the gunfire. It was just as she feared. The mobsters drilled her with their rabid fire attacks.

Bullets would hurt her and Gwen kept moving. She managed by sheer miracle not to get hit.

"Get whoever that is, and bring her down, I want to have a few words with her."

One of the mobsters fired at her. Gwen used her reflexes to avoid being riddled completely full of bullets. There were far too many close calls for her liking.

Gwen unhooked a hook from the ceiling and sent it flying down. It took out two of the mobsters.

'_Just keep your head in the game,' _Harry thought to her. _'And watch out for the Rhino.'_

Rhino charged Gwen from behind. The spider powered heroine just barely jumped up. Rhino flew forward and she grabbed onto the back of his head. He flung her off like an angry bull the first time.

"I'll rip you apart with my bare hands!"

He charged her again and Gwen webbed onto his head this time. She used his momentum to run over several of the mobsters. She took careful note how they were more reluctant to shoot at her.

'_This might just suck a little bit.'_

Gwen had that thought through her mind when both of them crashed through the concrete wall.

The two of them ended up outside on the docks. Gwen took a moment to allow herself to catch her breath. Her costume held up well despite being smashed through concrete.

Screw her costume, she held up well despite being crashed through concrete. And so did the Rhino.

Gwen winced; she felt a stabbing pain in her forearm. That wasn't good as all. She saw Rhino get up to his feet. That was even worse. His suit shredded when he went through the wall. The man ripped it off the rest of the way, revealing nothing but a thick gray armored bodysuit underneath it. The bodysuit fused to his skin. There was what looked like ports in several places. Gwen observed they were about the area of his forearms, shoulders, and chest.

'_Are you still there with me?'_

'_Yeah, I felt something crack….'_

The buzzing in the back of her head prevented her from getting her skull caved in by a Rhino punch. He spun around and grabbed her arm. He hoisted her up over his head like she was as light as a feather.

He had experience on his side and Gwen flew backwards. She webbed onto a light post on the side and swung around. She tried to kick her enemy in the face on the rebound. The only problem was that he blocked her feet with both of his large hands.

He pushed her down onto the ground where she crashed down hard. The wind got knocked out of her when she started to breath heavily.

Rhino rushed over again. Gwen knew that her best bet was to duck and hopefully find a way to burn him out.

'_Just keep cool and look for a weak spot,' _Harry thought.

Gwen used her webbing to blind Rhino. He tried to pull it but it stuck to his hands.

'_We might have used a bit stronger of an adhesive we needed on that batch,' _Gwen mentally commented. She threw her hands up and smiled. _'And for the record, I'm not complaining, just making an observation.'_

Rhino ripped the webbing off of his face. It took Gwen seconds to find out how pissed that he was. His attacks were a bit sloppier now that he took the earlier humiliation so personally.

Gwen gained a bit more confidence now that she knew what she was going up against. One shouldn't make her confidence for arrogance.

She needed to lure him into position to take him down. Then her path to Carradine would be completely and utterly clear.

* * *

><p>Shaw made use of his contacts in the Intelligence Community. It gave him the information that lead him straight to Carradine. All he would have to do is wait things out and he would have him.<p>

Now that Osborn Junior was in California, Shaw really had no place better to be. Along with the money that this person paid him to do this job, he could afford to be patient. He camped himself out on a rooftop across from the warehouse. There was a clear view of the exits from his vantage point and there was a sniper rifle in his hand.

The sounds of obvious battle only mildly interested Shaw. He didn't know if it was a gang tiff or what it was. All he knew was that it would likely flush one rat out of the warehouse.

The doors of the warehouse burst open. The paranoid looking Dennis Carradine rushed from the warehouse, looking quiet frantic. He rambled about her being after him. Who she was, Shaw didn't know. It wasn't in his job description to know.

He watched Carradine fumble with his keys. He entered the car and started the ignition. It was some tin pot car that had trouble turning over.

Shaw lined up the shot. He was going to make his target.

No sooner did Carradine manage to start his car and put his foot to the gas, Shaw fired a bullet right into his head. The resulting impact caused the car to spiral out of control.

The car went flying several feet and Carradine smashed through the windshield as the car crunched over the telephone pole.

"Scratch one off," Shaw muttered underneath his breath.

Shaw packed up and left. His job was done. As for whatever else was happening, it would work in his favor to properly mask his escape.

* * *

><p>Gwen slowly but surely formulated some kind of plan to deal with the Rhino.<p>

"You know, you couldn't hit the broad side of a barn door."

She noted pretty quickly she could make him pretty angry. To fight him hand to hand was likely going to get her killed and fairly quickly.

"I'd say that's a face that only a mother could love," Gwen continued. "But your mother must have been pretty blind or drunk to love that mug."

"Don't you dare, you dumb cunt!" Rhino growled. He charged her.

Gwen smiled, she lured him right into the trap. Rhino hit the fence hard.

"Oh, come on, some big tough mobster like you can't take care of some girl," Gwen said. "But then again, you're about as dumb as you look."

Rhino envisioned ripping her apart. He charged her again.

This time Gwen had him right where she wanted him. She sent him crashing hard into an electrical substation. She was leading him over towards it this entire time just waiting for the proper moment.

Rhino gave loud screams of agony. The rough as nails mobsters felt a shock that caused him to launch into the air and knock him out.

Gwen made sure that there was one package, extra crispy waiting for the police.

'_Gwen, something's happened, meet me back on the rooftop across from the café, change out when you do so,' _Harry thought to her.

'_Did Carradine get away?' _Gwen asked.

Harry answered her question briskly. _'Not exactly.'_

* * *

><p>"I'm really at a loss of what happened."<p>

Gwen's statement matched her words. To say she was in shock would be putting things mildly. They managed to track Carradine down. He slipped out during the confusion. Then bang, someone killed him, just like that.

"I figure out that we're not the only ones who wanted Carradine," Harry said. The crime scene was really close by. "And these people were playing for keeps you know."

"Would you have killed him if you had gone after him?" Gwen asked.

"Well now we'll never have a chance to answer that question because he's already dead," Harry said calmly. He didn't know what he might do if he was that ran into Carradine. "They say the first one is the hardest though even if it's done to protect those around you."

"Dad said the same thing, even as a cop, the most chilling thing is having to gun down a suspect even if it is out of self defense," Gwen said. "Did you…"

"I've done many things of questionable morality, and you might have to someday whether they're accidental or intentional," Harry said. He placed his fingers together. "Sometimes the line between the two are so fine. And sometimes we're the hero in one person's story and the villain in another person's story."

Harry decided that was a moot point again. Gwen looked like she wanted to ask more but the pain through her arm distracted her.

"Who other than us wanted Carradine dead?" Gwen asked.

Harry thought about the conversation that he had with Peter but he dismissed it off hand.

"He must have made some enemies in the underworld and if he stiffed someone, well that answers a question," Harry said. He ran his hand over the top of his hair and looked thoughtful. "He was pretty much small time, connections to the Russian mobsters or not."

"One mystery down, another one right in front of our faces," Gwen said. She wouldn't rest until she got answers to this one.

She saw Harry's unreadable look on his face. She could tell he wanted answers as well.

"That's not important for now," Harry said. Gwen opened her mouth to protest. He cleared his throat, not having any of it. "The most important thing is to get you back and have your arm checked out. Then we can worry about unraveling any mysteries later."

Gwen couldn't argue with that one. She allowed Harry to wrap his arm around her. He teleported her away from the scene in a blink of an eye to get checked out and left this mystery to be solved. It just seemed to raise more questions than answers.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued On January 5<strong>**th**** 2015.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen.**

* * *

><p>This was a type of day that seemed to go rather smoothly, at least at first. Then the night turned around something completely different. There were numerous calls for a disturbance. The sounds of gunshots could be heard in a rather bad part of town. It was rumored to be a part of the Russian Mafia's operations. Only no one had able to be to confirm them for one reason or another. That was just the rumors that had been told through the grapevine.<p>

It was hearsay at best. There was enough evidence to indicate that the Russian Mafia was operating out of the city. No one was willing to talk on the record but there were whispers.

A car pulled up at the location that they had been radioed in. A woman was the first one to exit the car. She had a dark shade of red hair and she wore a detective uniform. Her partner was a young man with dark hair and a grim demeanor. He exited the car.

"What are we supposed to be looking for, again?" he asked. He had no idea what they were looking for honestly.

His partner looked around. She allowed a momentary sigh to leave her lips. "We'll know when we….find it."

Her voice trailed off suddenly. She found something alright and it was something big. The woman didn't know how they missed something like that. Detective Jean DeWolff shifted her eyes towards the downed man on the ground. She took a tentative step forward and looked him over.

Her partner, Stanley Carter, looked at her. There was an equally wide eyed expression on his face. It seemed like it took a while for his mind to completely reboot as if to process the information. It was the mafia hitman that was known as the Rhino. Only he was completely out for the count.

"So, do you think we need to call in a crane to move this guy?" Carter asked. DeWolff raised her eyebrow. "I mean look at the size of that guy. He's not going willingly, if he's awake. And now he's dead wait."

Another car pulled up. The door opened and George Stacy exited it. He walked forward. There was a determined expression on his face when he approached the two detectives. It was obvious that he heard some rumors, the same rumors that the detectives heard. He wanted a status report.

"Status report, please," Captain Stacy commented.

"Well, we got a call that there was a fight at this place," DeWolff commented. "We've got all sorts of reports coming in, but the most reliable reports indicated that this guy was involved."

She extended her finger forwards to the downed man. Stacy raised his eyebrow and he looked down at the man.

"Sysevich," Stacy whispered. He recognized the Rhino anywhere. He wasn't about to forget a mug that ugly any time soon.

"Yeah, that guy," Carter confirmed. He seemed excited about something and was tripping over his words. He took a few seconds to gather a deep breath. "The mob was attacked, someone saw the entire thing. There's some kind of giant spider person that came in, complete with webs."

"Some kind of giant spider person?" George Stacy asked. He was completely skeptical by what happened but he was willing to give them all the benefit of the doubt, at least for now.

"Yes, some kind of giant spider person," Carter repeated. It looked like he was about ready to gush about this.

"The eyewitness account says that she took out the Russian Mob….."

"Are you sure it's a she?" Stacy asked, frowning.

"That's what the eyewitness accounts say, sir," DeWolff said. Stacy nodded in response and motioned for her to continue. "The Mob was taken out and then this giant Spider person got into a fight with Sytsevich that lasted up until the point he decided to head butt an electrical transformer."

Stacy nodded. That would account for the condition of the man before them. He should be dead but the man was still breathing, just barely. There would be the matter of medical attention before they could take him down town. Providing of course they could keep him there.

'_One problem at a time, Stacy, one problem at a time,' _he thought to himself.

"And there's something else," DeWolff said. He was jolted after his thoughts. "The person who is believed to have been responsible for killing Ben Parker in a home invasion has been found dead."

"He was in a car, a short distance away," Carter added.

Stacy frowned and he decided to go in for the obvious question. "Is there any conceivable reason that the two incidents are connected?"

"Likely," DeWolff admitted. "It looks like a car accident, but that could be what the person who killed Carradine wants us to think."

"Always assume homicide until you figure out beyond a shadow of a doubt," Stacy said. He thought that this giant spider person was something out of the strangest realms of science fiction.

A mob war he could deal with. Any problems with the Russian Mafia and this so called Big Man, he could deal with. A giant man who called himself the Rhino, he could deal with.

Anything like a spider themed vigilante, that was another matter entirely. He frowned when he looked at both Carter and DeWolff.

Unfortunately, for him, someone else pulled up before he could say anything else. He should have known at the press would have caught wind of this. A middle aged man with a mustache exited the car first. It was a beat up rental car. A young man with blond hair who was built like a gorilla exited the car next.

George Stacy sighed. They wouldn't be able to get anything done with the Bugle hovering around. Not to mention he still had to figure out how to get Rhino out of here.

"I tell you, sir, a crane will be our best bet," Carter said. He crossed his arms.

"Yes, maybe," Stacy conceded briskly. He could tell that this was going to be a long night. Which was a shame because he was supposed to be meeting his daughter and her boyfriend for dinner once he got off of his shift, but that would have to wait for another time.

* * *

><p>Gwen sat patiently on Harry's bed in the Parker residence. Or perhaps she was a bit impatient but no one could blame her considering the circumstances. She figured that she got lucky in the battle against her enemy tonight.<p>

Fortunately, he came off a little bit worse than she did. At least, she was able to be conscious and they slipped away just as the police arrived. Harry teleported her away at least.

Gwen mentally went over what happened several times. Everything moved so fast tonight. Her life seemed to be different, more interesting, and more dangerous over the past couple of weeks. This wasn't a complaint, more like an observation.

"Well, I've got some good news."

Harry finished running his glowing hand down her forehead to finish what he was doing. Gwen looked at him with bright blue eyes and frowned deeply.

"The good news is that you're pretty much clear to go," Harry said to her. She looked at him. "It's a hairline fracture of your wrist, but that's the extent of your injuries. It already appeals to be healing, slowly."

"So, I've got some kind of healing factor or something?" Gwen asked. Harry responded with a smile and a nod.

"Yes, there's some kind of enhanced healing," Harry told her. He gently pulled her arm out. "That's good news because a splint should do a good enough job of keeping it immobile until it can heal. And you won't need a cast if that's the case."

Gwen smiled at the thought. All and all, it wasn't that bad. Her worst injury is taken care of.

"And now, I need for you to strip off your clothes," Harry told her. Gwen raised her eyebrow at him. "I need to take stock of any of your injuries that you might have and see if I can do anything about them."

"Ooh, that makes sense," Gwen said. Without any word, she carefully removed her shirt and her pants. She was left in nothing but a pair of bra and panties.

Harry gave her body a good looking over. She smiled when he looked her over.

"So, what's the diagnosis?" Gwen asked. Harry gone silent and she didn't really know what to believe about that.

"You're pretty banged up, as I expected," Harry said. He placed his hand on her shoulder and ran it lightly over her body. He double checked things to make sure but his initial prediction was correct. "You're pretty banged up, but it's nowhere as bad as it could be and you already seem to healing up."

Gwen nodded, that was good. Something was about ready to go right tonight. She thought for a moment she got some kind of bad spider luck curse thing with her powers.

"And while the bone has to heal naturally, there's something that I can do to help you with this," Harry said to her. He slowly ran a glowing hand over her worst areas.

He used a slight healing spell. It was just to accelerate her really formidable healing abilities. Harry's magic just caused the spark to start the work.

Surprisingly, Gwen allowed a giggle to appear after her mouth. She shivered suddenly.

"Sorry, sorry," Gwen commented in an exasperated voice. "I'm….sorry, just sorry."

It was obvious by this point that she was extremely ticklish. She was barely able to resist breaking out into laughter. Barely, she just barely did it, she was holding things back.

She snorted briefly and her façade broken. Granted it was a fairly cute snort but that was beside the point.

"We're almost done, don't worry," Harry said. He slowed down the magic a little bit and caused more shivers to come down her spine.

"Doing it on purpose," Gwen muttered in a mock accusatory whisper.

"What?" Harry asked her.

"You know what," Gwen hissed through her teeth. She started to laugh once again when Harry returned fire on her.

The group ceased their activities where the door leading down to the basement suit clicked open from the outside. Both of them stood up and wondered who was coming down.

A rather rattled looking Mary Jane Watson staggered down the steps into the room. She was hugging her arms when she moved and she looked like she saw a ghost.

Anything she was said was lost in the midst of any attempt to speak. She was caught off guard by the current position that greeted her involving Gwen and Harry. She noticed the current position that they were in and also the splint that was on Gwen's hand. She frowned.

"What the hell is going on?" Mary Jane asked. Her words were completely blunt and to the point. That's what they all appreciated about her.

"I was knocked down by a crowd trying to catch the train, those bastards didn't care about stamping on my hand," Gwen said. She told her story with such conviction that Mary Jane had to agree with it. "Harry is looking over everything, he's got medical training, so he should be able to figure out anything that's wrong."

Mary Jane tilted her head briefly. She looked at them with narrowed eyes for about ten seconds.

"Yes, I guess that's plausible," Mary Jane said.

Gwen turned to Mary Jane and she had a question of her own. "How did you get into this room? I swear that the door was locked."

"I gave her a key," Harry said. Mary Jane looked nervous and this was news to Gwen.

Gwen was rather cool and calm when she responded. "And why exactly do you have a key to Harry's room?"

"Just in case of an emergency," Mary Jane said. She looked at Harry, who deduced the state of why she was here. There could be only reason why she was here and his voice grew grim.

"Phillip Watson is in town," Harry said grimly.

Mary Jane nodded, grimly. "Yeah."

"Your father?" Gwen asked. Mary Jane looked at her crossly.

"I prefer the term sperm donor myself," Harry said to her.

'_Gwen, do tread carefully here, this is a touchy subject,' _Harry reminded her through the bond link.

'_I know it's touchy,' _Gwen thought.

"Oh, I see, well….I understand why you're here then," Gwen said. She lurched forward and slowly wrapped her arms around Mary Janet with a tight hug.

There was no need to bring up that fact again. It was a touchy subject for Mary Jane for the obvious reasons that it was.

Gwen's phone rang and brought her attention elsewhere. She took a moment to answer the phone.

* * *

><p>Harry, Gwen, and Mary Jane made their way upstairs for dinner. May was there, she was still in a slight daze, she was much better than she was but she was still not one hundred percent after that happened.<p>

"Your father is running late, isn't he?" May asked. She was glad to have herself distracted by something else other than the insanity that had been going on in her life.

"Yeah, that's who it was," Gwen commented. She took what was dished out in front of her. "So, we should just start eating, because he's not going to make it. Also, he says that he's sorry, Harry."

"What does he have to be sorry about?" Harry asked. He waved off the apology Gwen gave to him. "Things come up, I understand."

"I know that you understand, but he doesn't want you to feel like he's ducking you," Gwen said. She placed her hand on his, the one that wasn't injured at least. "Just to make sure that you know that he's just rather busy."

"I know, trust me," Harry said, waving off the apology.

May had just come home about a little bit ago. She actually called ahead to Harry a little bit ago to make sure that someone was home. When she confirmed that Harry and the girls were there, she came home and they all decided to have a quick dinner at the Parker Residence.

"You know, it's a good thing that you're finding things to keep you busy anymore," May commented, in amusement. "You always used to blow through your school work so fast and when someone of your intelligence gets bored, well things tend to happen. And you gave teacher's all kinds of hell."

"Oh what happened?" Mary Jane asked. Harry frowned and looked on in amusement. Mary Jane smiled at him.

"Well for the most part, nothing too dangerous, well actually it was more amusing and to prove that he could do something," May said. She folded her arms together and smiled when Harry sighed. "There was one time that you set things up so a timer would set itself when your Science teacher opened the door."

"Oh god, I remember this," Harry commented. He chuckled in amusement. It was actually a trick one of his friends taught him, the one that he met when he had one of his misadventures off world.

He could not find his way back, he could not locate that friend, who was slightly more than a friend, one never forgot their first after all. Harry tried not to dwell on that, hoping that she was safe and alive, but a small part of him felt like it was missing.

He returned back to the conversation and not the fact that he had been separated from one of his soul mates. Her world was in danger of dying and she promised to find Harry, but things happened. Harry sensed that she was still out there, but where was the question.

"And when the timer went off, it covered the classroom in pink foam," May continued. "You were around nine at the time, and just graduating Junior High. They didn't want you to go too far, all the way up to High School. You were sent to the Xavier Institute and went there just about until you were ready to start High School."

May took a deep breath.

"I'm not sure why you decided to come back home to attend school at MCU," May admitted. That was something that baffled her and Ben and they never got a straight answer out of Harry.

"Well, the science program was enticing," Harry said. It was obvious they all knew that there were more reasons.

"I'm sure that there was something else," Gwen replied.

"Well, I had a falling out with Professor Xavier," Harry said. "Let's just say that I wanted to go one way with my education and he wanted to go the other way. There's nothing else other than to that."

"But, aren't you still civil with each other?" May asked with a frown.

"I can respect the man's accomplishments and some of his opinions even though I don't respect all of them," Harry said. "We're still fairly civil and I guess that I get along with most of the students at the school. Some far better than others granted, but I don't have a problem with any of them."

"But do they have a problem with you?" Gwen asked.

"Interesting question," Harry said evasively. "I never really asked."

He didn't want to know the answer to that question. He knew that Xavier tried to convince him to stay and every time he came up there for a visit, he tried to convince him to return. He didn't really press the issue all that much.

"I go up there for a fair bit each summer, and I've formed certain bonds with some of the students," Harry replied.

Gwen jumped in instantly. "So, that's where you met Jean?"

"I figured that you might have met her somewhere," Mary Jane in an excited voice.

"Well, we were among the earliest of Xavier's students, at least in this current generation of his students," Harry said. He decided not to go into the history of that because that wasn't his business to go into the history of that.

"What did you do to your wrist, Gwen?" May asked. She noticed it earlier but she decided to say so when they all had plenty to eat.

"Someone knocked me down when I was trying to catch the train and they stepped on my wrist," Gwen commented. "But it was nothing serious, Harry looked it over."

"Well if Harry says that it's healed enough, then I believe him," May said. She had a feeling that there was something more to what was happening, but she was not going to press the issue any time.

"How are you doing?" Gwen asked. She didn't want to bring up the fact that Ben's killer was dead, because she didn't know if May knew.

"I'm on the mend," May said. "Even in tragedy, you got to understand one thing. Life goes on. It's just whether or not you want life to go on with or without you."

"Words of wisdom to live by," Harry agreed. He didn't want to press the issue either, and he knew that there would be plenty of time to discuss matters later. "That's what Ben would have wanted."

"Yes, it is," May agreed and they switched to another, less depressing topic.

* * *

><p>The parking garage in some area of New York was one that there was an interesting meeting of several nights previous. And there was another interesting meeting that was happening, even though the individuals meeting were different.<p>

One of the individuals wore an extremely stylish fedora complete with a long coat. The other man was the same man who wore the J. Jonah Jameson mask a few nights previously. It was unclear completely whether or not he was wearing that mask or he was wearing another disguise. He was a man of many faces after all.

The man of many faces spoke. "Where is Mr. Shaw?"

"He had to leave the state temporarily," the Gentleman in the Shadows commented in a rough voice. "He was merely just the messenger though and I had intended to pick up the package in person. But, I'm sure that you were able to pick up the package."

"It was our arrangement and you should know that the type of work I do is acceptable," the man, a virtual chameleon with his many disguises, stated. "There has been a complication though."

"What kind of complication?" the man in the shadows asked. He didn't like complications. They ruined even the best laid plans.

"I'm willing to negotiate on the payment for a favor," the Chameleon commented.

"What is the complication?" the Gentleman repeated firmly. His voice was calm but there was a sense in his vocal tone that indicated that he wanted to know what exactly he meant. "I don't like complications, especially when they ruin the best laid plans."

"The Rhino was arrested earlier this evening," The Chameleon informed him in a low voice. "And such an arrest complications the long term plans."

"Yes, I see," the Gentlemen stated. His arms crossed over his chest. It was a pose that betrayed no emotion.

"I would like you to use your contacts to ensure his freedom," the Chameleon commented. He waited to see how he would react to this.

The Gentleman pondered this matter while in the shadows for a moment. "Yes, I agree for your request, and I will take compensation out of your planned payment."

"Very well," the Chameleon commented.

"And now the package, as promised," The Gentleman said. He was half expecting some kind of double cross.

"Norman Osborn" stepped out of the shadows carrying the high briefcase. This contained the cylinder that was stolen from Trask over the last chapter.

The Gentleman corked his eyebrow when he looked at him. There was only one word that he said when he reached forward to retrieve the package. "Cute."

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued On January 12<strong>**th****, 2015.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen.**

* * *

><p>It was later in the evening, after midnight. Gwen was snuggled in Harry's bed, laying across his chest with a smile on her face. Mary Jane was also sleeping in Harry's bed because her father was still at her Aunt's house. Gwen was still there because it was pretty late. Harry was conspicuous by his absence in this bed.<p>

Right now, Gwen absent mindedly and lightly wrapped her arms around Mary Jane and pulled her in tightly towards her. However, she was sleeping fairly lightly. The smallest noise could be the one that could jolt her awake.

Which was what happened when she heard something, and sure enough she could see a brief flicker of Harry entering the bathroom. She could hear the sound of what seemed like the shower turning on.

Gwen took a moment and made a calculating decision. She slowly got to her feet and sauntered her way towards the bathroom. She stripped off the shirt that she was wearing. This left her in a pair of tiny panties, with her bare back exposed when she made her way to the bathroom. Her swaying ass moved back and forth when she approached the bathroom, with a wicked grin on her face.

She entered the bathroom and sure enough, Harry was about ready to shower. Gwen slipped off her panties when she walked towards him for a moment. She slipped past the backroom door, neglecting to shut it.

She reached over and placed her hand on the side of his shoulder. There was a moment where Harry turned around and saw her standing there in all of her glory. He raised his eyebrow, he thought that both girls were sound asleep.

"Thought that you were asleep," Harry commented at her.

Gwen smiled and she slipped closer towards him, closing the gap. She threw her arms around his neck.

"You know that I can't sleep," she whispered in a breathy voice. Her smile widened when she looked towards him. She got closer towards him so they were both placed underneath the shower head. Her hands roamed his back and body. "You know that I'm a really light sleeper. The times that I've been ready to go in the middle of the night."

"Yes," Harry agreed. She approached him more closely than ever before. Her eyes locked onto on when she approached him. "I do as well."

Gwen wrapped her legs around Harry and held herself in tight towards him. Her eyes burned with lust. She leaned forward to whisper something in his ear.

"Ravish me, right now," Gwen whispered. Her pussy burned with the most wanton desire. She rubbed up and down against Harry's crotch and obviously desired something more deeper than that. Harry pushed around her slim waist and allowed her legs to keep wrapped around him.

He leaned towards her and gave her a mind blowing kiss. Gwen could feel his tongue shove deep into her mouth.

It was just about to get steamy and she didn't mean the shower. His hands kept exploring her. The kiss deepened when the two of them continued their hot and sexy activities underneath the showerhead, with Harry dominating her with an intense kiss.

Mary Jane shifted awake back in the bedroom. She thought that something was wrong. She realized that Gwen had left the bed. Harry was not there either.

She thought at first that they had just gotten up really early. She looked at the clock for a moment and realized that it was almost half after midnight, give or take a few minutes. She gave herself a jarring shake of her head.

Mary Jane was jolted further awake by some interesting sounds coming from the area of the bathroom. The bathroom door was swung open and if Mary Jane could shift herself on the bed, she could see it.

She joined the show just in time to see Harry push Gwen against the shower wall. She was obviously strong but Harry was the one who was dominant this time. He thrust in and out of her. She begged him for more.

Mary Jane watched, her finger absent-mindedly rubbing her finger around her nipple. She realized what she was doing and stopped for a moment. Once her eyes were locked on the show, the second show that Gwen and Harry gave her, she couldn't tell aware.

Her panties got extremely damp and it was hard for her to even breathe. She reached over towards the table with shaky hands and pulled out her camera. Somehow, by some miracle, she managed to tweak the camera so it would work in her extremely altered state. Her hands were shaking when she got it set up and in position.

The redhead nearly dropped the camera but managed to maintain a grip on it. She shook her head and breathed in and breathed out. The camera was positioned to record the festivities as she saw them. She reached between her legs, and started to diddle herself. The activities got more intense.

She wondered in a hazed manner how Gwen's screams couldn't wake the entire neighborhood. She also wondered as she pumped into herself how these positions were possible.

Then Mary Jane imagined herself in some of those positions. That caused her to play with herself a little bit more.

She was sad to see that it was over. Even though it latest a little over a half of an hour and it left Mary Jane on the bed, panting and sticky, she was disappointed that the show as over.

Thankfully she had a nice little video tape at her disposal where she could review their technique. Yes, review their technique extremely carefully, that was the ticket. Mary Jane allowed herself a wicked grin at that.

Gwen and Harry were finished up in the bathroom. Gwen slid down to the floor. Harry reached down and pulled her up to her feet.

Her head buried into Harry's shoulder. There was a wicked smile on her face.

'_Hope you enjoyed the show, MJ,' _she thought. There was a smile on her face. She could see Mary Jane struggle to get back into bed before they reached back to the bedroom. She decided to give her a courtesy and some time. _'We'll be seeing you real soon.'_

'_Blew her mind,' _Harry thought.

'_You always do,' _Gwen concluded. She gave a shadow of a wicked smile. Holding onto Harry, she managed to alleviate the tension between her legs and pull herself back to a standing position. She leaned in and gave him another kiss.

It was time in a little bit to return to bed. It wasn't the time yet for her to join them. They would let it stew in her mind and her own juices.

* * *

><p>It was later that morning but not to the point where the son had rose. A man sat in his office with his back towards the window. The office was obscenely large, to the point where it was obvious to anyone who had entered it that it belonged to someone extremely important. The person in the office in question was burning the midnight oil.<p>

One wondered whether or not this person even slept. Regardless, his eyes averted towards the work. His back was turned, and he was hidden mostly in shadows.

The man in question waited for an extremely important individual to show up. The door opened and the mysterious gentleman entered the office. He carried the high tech briefcase that was purchased by the Chameleon.

He took swift and careful strides like he owned the place. He sat down on the chair in front of the desk and made himself comfortable. He reached into his jacket and removed a package of cigarettes. He pulled out a lighter and paused.

"You don't mind, do you?" he asked.

The man in the chair responded in a dry voice. "Would saying 'no' stop you?"

The Gentleman shook his head. He lit the smoke in answer to that question.

The figure sneered. They all had their imperfections. "Fiers, I see that you were able to acquire the package from our friend successfully."

Fiers responded by taking a drag of his smoke and nodding in affirmation.

"There was a complication," he stated.

"You know how I don't like complications," the man in the shadows commented.

"Nor more do I," Fiers said. "But the man of the shadows has requested a favor."

The man in the shadows nodded in response. "What kind of favor?"

Fiers responded the situation and explained what the Chameleon told him about the situation regarding the Rhino.

"I see," the man in the shadows commented. There was a calmness to his voice. "I trust you can see to it, then?"

"Easily," Fiers replied coolly.

The figure in the shadows mused over something for a moment.

"Pay the Chameleon what he was offered in full," the man in the shadows commented. Fiers raised an eyebrow. "It pays well to keep people like our friend happy so they are willing to stay friendly in the future."

"What should I do with the package?" Fiers asked.

The man in the shadows responded with a smile. "Take it to Special Projects to have it analyzed. Once you have that done, send a sample to Connors and Octavius."

The man in the shadows paused and responded.

"And send it to Harry as well," the man in the shadows added. He looked extremely thoughtful about something. "I'm curious to see what he can do about that."

Fiers nodded. The man in the shadows gave a calculating smirk. The results of this endeavor would prove to be extremely interesting.

* * *

><p>Two older gentlemen were sitting in a conference room in Hammer Industries in New York City. One of them was dressed in a horrific blue suit that was pressed neatly. He had silver hair and a permanently calculating look in his eyes. He might have looked like an old man at first glance but one should not let that fool them because he was as devious as they could come. His name was Justin Hammer and he was the head of Hammer Industries.<p>

The other man was bald with sunken in eyes and a beak nose. He dressed in a pressed black suit. His name was Adrian Toomes.

The two men waited for the arrival of a U.S. Air Force Representative in regards to a possible defense contact. This case it was a flight harness that was designed by Adrian Toomes. They were far from the only ones that were competing for such a contract. Stark Industries was also in the running and put forth a proposal as well.

A couple weeks ago there was a demonstration that was performed by both companies. This was a meeting whether or not they would be informed that they would win the contract.

"We're going to find out if your work actually paid off, Toomes," Hammer said. There was a slightly accusatory tone towards his voice like if they failed to get this contract.

"I'm confident that we have the deal, and you should be as well," Toomes stated. He was trying to be civil.

He dealt with many bastards like Hammer in his day. They thought that they were safe and secure with their millions. They decided not to take any responsibility for any actions.

"Yes, well we'll see," Hammer commented.

"It's not over yet," Toomes responded.

"It better not be," Hammer fired back.

The two men didn't have many more words to spare for each other. The wait nearly grinded to a close when the door opened and the man that they were waiting for arrived. He was a middle aged looking gentlemen with greying hair and a mustache that would put J. Jonah Jameson to shame. He was dressed in a uniform. His name was Major Glenn Talbot.

"Major, sit down," Hammer commented. He had a false cordial tone on his voice. "Would you like some refreshment?"

"No, thank you," Talbot said briskly. "I'll be brief, considering that I'd like to get on with my day."

Hammer frowned, that didn't sound too encouraging.

"We have decided to go with the Stark Industries EVO-7 instead of your project," Talbot replied. "It's nothing personal, it just suits our needs better."

Toomes looked like he swallowed something. He could see Hammer's accusatory eyes flash towards him. Then Hammer's attention diverted back to Major Talbot.

"And General Ross would like to give some feedback himself," Talbot added. He got the note that Ross handed him that he would repeat, verbatim. "Whoever designed this is obviously been indulging in something heavy. Only a fucking idiot would think that restricting your arms like that in your design was a good idea."

Toomes blanched and sneered. Hammer wasn't looking at him. That wasn't necessarily a good design.

"Thank you for your time, have a nice day, gentlemen, " Talbot said. He was already almost out of the door as he said this.

This left Toomes and Hammer alone with each other in the office. That was not going to be a pleasant conversation.

At first, Hammer didn't say anything. The only reaction he had was to grip his coffee cup. He gripped it so tightly that it cracked and then shattered in his grip. He ignored the fact that the cup cut into his hand. He was so seething with adrenaline.

"I've wanted to do this for years, for YEARS!" Hammer yelled. He looked at Toomes with bug eyes. He was breathing in and out when he stared the man down. "The board of directors, they wouldn't let me do it. Even though I wanted to do it for fucking years. This was your last chance, your last chance, do you hear me?"

Toomes was about to say something. He didn't have a chance because Hammer cut him off.

"No, no, no, no, no," Hammer whispered. He was practically seething. "Don't say anything. You cost this company billions of dollars because of your outdated ideas of what works. You might have gotten away with it. But you made me look like an idiot."

Hammer stared at Toomes with beady little eyes .

"Now pack your things, and get out of my building, you fucking Vulture!" Hammer snapped. He looked at him.

Toomes sat there stunned. For a brief second, it seemed like Hammer was going to strangle him to death where they sat.

Hammer turned around and stormed from his office, absolutely seething.

* * *

><p>Harry, Gwen, and MJ decided to make it a day for themselves out on the town. Their schedule cleared up enough for themselves. Harry was on bereavement leave. Gwen was on leave due to the fact that Connors needed his office paired from the damage that was caused by Max Dillon.<p>

As for Mary Jane, she had some extremely weird hours at the Daily Bugle. Officially, her job was working underneath Betty Brant as an intern. A lot of the office unfortunately used her as a gopher though, having her go and fetch things as needed.

The Bugle was their first stop as they needed to check up on things there. Harry was talking with Felicia at the moment.

"Yeah, everything has been rough," Harry agreed, nodding over the phone. "We're just coping with everything. We have to get back on her feet."

"Really sorry what happened, and I'm sorry that I couldn't be there for the funeral," Felicia said. "My business is running not as smoothly as I would like."

"Don't apologize, you just got to do what you got to do, I perfectly understand," Harry said to her.

Felicia decided to switch tracts of conversation. "I trust that you've been keeping busy, and in the good ways as well."

"If you're referring to carnal pursuits, than you would be right," Harry commented. He only half paid attention to the conversation that Gwen and Mary Jane were having. They were talking about the types of things that teenage girls were known to talk about.

"I figured as much, but if Emma hasn't jumped in yet, I'm sure Gwen would have," Felicia said slyly.

It was at this moment where Gwen said something. Mary Jane frowned and Gwen looked at her, daring her to do something. She responded surprisingly by biting her on the wrist in retaliation. That caused Gwen to give a shocked response. That was not something that she expected, especially from Mary Jane of all people.

This noise alerted Felicia to her presence.

"Gwen's there with you, isn't she?" Felicia asked.

"Yeah, she is," Harry agreed with her.

There was a certain calculating note to Felicia's voice when she spoke next. "Well hand the phone to her, I want to talk to her."

"Felicia wants to talk to you," Harry said to Gwen. Gwen paused and nodded as she was handed the phone.

"So, how's she doing?" Mary Jane asked.

"She's doing well, bit busy, she finally got some time to call and check in," Harry said. Mary Jane stepped a bit closer to Harry.

The group passed through the doors of the building.

"Well naturally it was good, but you should have known that better than anyone else," Gwen said.

"Well, you better be treating him right, or I'll find a way to get back there and sort you out," Felicia responded. She crossed her arms in response and smiled.

"Oh don't worry, he gives me everything that I need, and…..well I'd give you a full description," Gwen answered.

"Well, that could be interesting," Mary Jane said.

"Why, do you want to hear about some of it?" Harry asked. He knew that Mary Jane was watching their encounter the other night and recorded it for her own private use.

The group approached Betty Brant's desk. She was talking rather loudly over the phone to one of her contacts. They waited patiently for her to finish.

The reason that she was talking loudly was J. Jonah Jameson was in his office, acting like he normally did. He was loud and boisterous.

Harry's hyper sensitive ears picked up the ongoing tennis match. Betty yelled louder and Jameson picked things up.

Finally, Betty was done and she was quiet. She noticed Harry, Gwen, and Mary Jane sitting there. She looked sheepish and fairly apologetic. She hung up the phone.

"Sorry about that, and sorry for keeping you waiting," Betty commented. "There's something that happened in California last night and it could be big."

It was at that point where Gwen got off the phone with Felicia. She handed it back to Harry.

"She had to run but she told me to do this," Gwen told Harry. She leaned towards Harry and threw her arms around her. She proceeded to kiss the hell out of him. Harry eagerly returned these actions completely without any shame.

Both of them broke apart, driven completely breathless by the others actions.

Mary Jane turned away from that spectacle to face Betty. "So, what's the story about?"

"There's supposed to be a press conference starting soon," Betty said. To confirm that, she turned on the television and she quickly ducked next door into Jameson's office. "The press conference is starting any second now."

She returned for a second. They saw Tony Stark make his way on the television screen. He was dressed in a fairly nice suit although he was the same eccentric businessman that he always was.

"You know, I've been looking into you," Betty commented. That caused Harry's attention to divert completely towards her. His face crossed into a knowing smile.

"Oh, do tell," Harry responded to her. His smile grew completely wide when he focused on her.

"And I'm interested in doing an interview with you, and I'm sure a lot of people would be interesting in reading one," Betty said. She looked towards him with a smile. "There are a lot of people who say that you stand to be the next Tony Stark or the next Reed Richards."

Harry smiled and arched his eyebrow. "Not, the next Hank Pym, surely?"

Betty snorted in response. "Please, nobody takes Ant Man seriously."

"It's just as well," Harry said. He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear. "Because I prefer to be the first Harry Evans-Parker."

"Well said," Betty commented. She looked towards him with a smile on her face. The press conference continued when the group made some light conversation.

There was a bomb dropped by Tony Stark that caused all of them to take up notice.

"The truth is, I am Iron Man," Tony concluded.

"HA!" Jameson bellowed from his office. "I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! It just about figures that there is some billionaire playboy who has too much time on his hands. Likely, he's going to some kind of crisis. Putting on a suit of armor, and joy riding around, honestly, that's about right. His money could be better spent on other things. You'd never see me in one of those suits. Stark looks absurd. And Iron man, could you come up with a better name? The world should rally around real heroes, like my son, the astronaut, Colonel John Jameson! Hey, Brock, did I ever tell you about my son, the astronaut, Colonel John Jameson? Now there's a real hero, unlike some hedonistic fool in a high tech suit of armor!"

Betty casually leaned back. She was all too used to being a beneficiary of Jonah's rants. It was just background noise for her at this point.

* * *

><p>The next day, Herman Schultz and Aleksei Syksevich were in the back of an armored prison transport van. They were heading towards Ryker's island. Both men were handcuffed together.<p>

Schultz shifted nervously. The Rhino was giving him the type of look that you didn't want the Rhino to give you. The evil eyes continued to burn on him. He wished that he was transported separately because this man looked like he was going to rip him apart and he had no hesitation in doing it. Schultz felt his heart nervously thump across his chest when he waited. Seconds passed.

There were two SWAT members in the van with them. They had their weapons pointed on the two criminals. It was a shoot first and maybe ask questions to the corpse type of environment that was going on.

The van continued to go down the street. It came towards the street crossing. It grinded to a stop when the driver saw construction blocking its way.

A moving van pulled behind them to keep the armored van from backing up and going into another direction. This rang more than enough alarm bells.

The cops didn't have a chance to do anything about it. A garbage truck slammed into the side of the truck. The truck went flying into the side of a building next to it.

After the dust settled, a group of armored men stormed out of the back of a moving van. All of the occupants were surprised that this attack was happening.

They were all surprised, except for the Rhino, who didn't look too surprised. He watched when the guards went down. The idiots decided that it would be a good idea to stand next to the doors when someone blew it open.

An unidentified armored man blew open the door. He poked his head in and spoke with a muffled, disguised voice. "Your ride's here."

Rhino nodded and grunted. "Good, bring him along."

He pointed one large finger towards Herman. Herman wondered what was going on. Before he could argue it, they grabbed onto him.

They dragged him from the van. The large man followed them from behind.

All of them got into the moving van. Before they left, one of the armored man set up a bomb underneath the truck. The SWAT guards and driver were still stunned.

"We've got three minutes to clear, make it happen," the guard grunted. He climbed into the van, ready to gun it.

The van zoomed out of the area. There was something happening underneath the van and sure enough the armored van exploded.

Not that it mattered because the moving truck was long gone. It would be a while before police would be alerted and there were no witnesses left to tell the tale.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued On January 19<strong>**th****, 2015. **


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen.**

* * *

><p>A couple of days have passed since the Jail Break. A prison transport van being attacked would normally have been banner news. There was other things that happened that buried it on page six. For starters, Tony Stark's bombshell about dressing up in a suit of power armor and calling himself Iron Man caused it to be buried on page six.<p>

In more personal news, Ben Parker's funeral came and went. Harry recalled a lot of people stopping by. Norman Osborn himself put in an appearance although it was brief. He was in long enough to pay his respects and it was back to work for the head of OsCorp after that.

They pretty much finished the repairs from the blow out and subsequent black out. Gwen returned back to work as an intern. Harry was still in bereavement leave which Norman extended to his upcoming vacation. As the man himself commented, there was honestly no point in Harry coming back into work for a couple of days only to leave straight after that.

Harry and Gwen were on the elevator leading to the floor where Gwen worked. Harry prepared to head up to see if there were any messages left for him during his absence.

Gwen curled herself up against Harry. She felt his arm wrap around her and if she was being perfectly honest, she really enjoyed the attention.

"I'm meeting with my mother at ten, because we have an appointment with a lawyer," Harry commented. Gwen nodded in response. She curled up closer towards Harry, enjoying the affection that he gave her. He placed his arm around her and held her in even more tightly against him. She enjoyed the place that she was in. "How about you?"

"Well, I'm going to meet with Mary Jane and Liz for lunch after I'm done here," Gwen said. She decided to switch topics. "So, what about Carradine's murder?"

"I didn't think that there was much about that one, was there?" Harry asked her.

Gwen shook her head in response. "The rifle that was used in the murder was found on the rooftop. It's just going to lead us into a circle though. That and several other guns were found missing from the NYPD a couple of months ago."

Gwen seemed frustrated because she couldn't do more of anything. Harry leaned into her and gave her a reassuring kiss. Gwen returned fire with the kiss. Her arms wrapped tightly around Harry.

It lingered until they reached their floor. The elevator door opened up to reveal them in the back. On the other side of the door, there was an amused looking Peter and a younger looking man who was sitting in a wheelchair who looked around Harry's age.

Without shame, Gwen broke the kiss, with a little sway of her kiss.

"Very nice," Peter commented, turning his attention fully to Harry. "This is Alistair Symthe."

The young man seemed to be a rather unremarkable young man with dark hair and glasses. One wouldn't be able to pick him out of a lineup as anything special.

"He's going to be interning under Doctor Octavius," Peter continued. "Although his area of expertise will be more in the robotics division."

Harry reached forward to shake his hand. "Well, I hope that you enjoy your time working here."

Alistair didn't shake Harry's hand. In fact, he stared at him with a raised eyebrow. He started to speak in a snooty and self-assured tone. "I'm surprised that you didn't recognize my last name."

Peter stepped away so Alistair didn't see him shaking his head. Harry raised his eyebrow and looked at the young man. "Should I?"

"Well, Alistair's father is well known in certain circles in a field of robotics," Peter replied. Alistair nodded off to his side. "But it was an extremely long time ago."

This jogged Harry a little bit. He nodded slowly. "I might have read or heard something about him in my engineering class about once or twice, yes."

"Yes, well, I'm glad that you are truthfully ignorant," Alistair stated in a bland voice.

Peter's awkward conversation sense was tingling. "We better head up to my office, Alistair."

"Right," Alistair said, appearing not to be once for conversation at the moment.

"I'll see you later, Harry" Peter commented.

Harry made his way completely off of the elevator when he reached his floor. He passed Otto and gave him a brief nod. The man was busy with something with something at the moment. Harry passed him and allowed him to get to it.

The young man sat down at the computer and turned it on. He waited for a moment to allow it to boot up his computer.

Once that was done, Harry opened the e-mail to find several messages there. There was a few that needed some swift responses. There was a lot of it that was just the usual inter-office memo type things. It was more of like a FYI thing.

Harry saw that the messages were more like business as usual. At least it was business as usual until the point where he approached his very last message.

Harry's interest was piqued because the message contained a very interesting formula. He thought that the formula was very familiar to him. As for where he remembered it, he couldn't just remember where it was from.

He placed his hand underneath his chin.

"Interesting," Harry muttered underneath his breath. "Very, very, interesting."

He decided to get to work on things, hoping that everything would come to him in due time.

* * *

><p>Harry finished doing what he needed to do paperwork wise at the office. The formula haunted his mind but he had other things to focus on. He could always come back to that later. He headed off to meet with May.<p>

Not before he arrived at a nearby coffee shop. He needed to get a large coffee which he needed to feed his caffeine addiction. The young man left the coffee shop, sipping on the coffee. His watch glinted in the sunlight, the red crystal on it shining.

He prepared to head off in the direction where he was going to meet with May. His phone rang which caused him to stop short.

"Hi, Jean," Harry said. "What do you need?"

Jean piped up on the line. "Just calling up to check on you to see how you're doing."

"Oh, I'm doing fine," Harry replied. "How are you?"

"Well things are as chaotic as always here," Jean confirmed. She had a momentary smile on her face. Her arms crossed over each other. "And I'm also calling to confirm that you're still planning to come down there, even after everything that's happened."

"Yes, and I'm likely going to come here with some company," Harry said.

"That's more than fine," Jean responded. "It's not like the mansion doesn't have a billion spare rooms. Oh, and I've been meaning to tell you that Hank has run the tests you asked him to, and his results are more or less the same as your results."

"I figured that I was going in that direction," Harry replied. He held the phone. "It's just good to verify those things."

"Yes, it is, and I'm glad that there are no problems," Jean said. "Guess your other powers cancelled out any side effects….at least for now."

"Well, my unique biology cancelled it out apparently," Harry said. He was keeping a closer eye on what happened. So far, there was nothing, at least nothing noticeable. "So how are things going on your end?"

"Well, there's a couple of new students and we've had a couple of run ins with the Brotherhood," Jean commented. She gave a long sigh and crossed her arms. "There was some drama involving Logan."

"Of course there was," Harry replied with a smile.

"He disappeared for about a month, and only he came back, like nothing happened," Jean answered. Harry inclined his head and shook it.

"Of course he did," Harry responded. "So, what else?"

"Scott is just Scott, he tries hard…..maybe too hard," Jean muttered. There was a lot of frustration that filled her voice. "He's got some big shoes to fill, almost too big. He's going to end up having a break down if he's not careful."

"Yes, I noticed that about him," Harry answered in a collected voice.

"Oh, and Duncan Matthews seems to think that the fact that I'm tutoring means that we're dating," Jean commented. She had to take every bit of her self-control not to rewire his brains.

"He would, he seems to have one too many shots to the head," Harry remarked dryly. "Not that he didn't have much going for him mentally."

"Well, that's why he needs a tutor," Jean dead panned. Her voice grew more excited when she switched topics. "I can't wait to see you again, things are really insane around here. And I know the reason why you left…..and I completely understand it. But, I almost followed you out the door. Ororo talked me out of it, but….."

"Well, you should do what you want to do, Jean," Harry answered. "I'm retired from the field. I'm not going back out there if I can help it…..and I'm here now…..I got to meet my mother. I'll talk to you later."

"Right, talk to you later Harry, hope to see you real soon," Jean said. She tried not to get too excited but it was obvious that her voice was completely infectious.

Harry let her go and he entered the office. May was waiting for him. She greeted him with a hug and the two walked inside.

* * *

><p>May had to process what they were told the moment they left the Insurance Agent and Lawyer. She tried to get things together.<p>

"Well, that was interesting," Harry replied, breaking the silence.

"One way to put that," May agreed. She frowned when she nodded her head. Harry placed his arm around her shoulders. "Ben's been playing into a life insurance policy for ages. And since he worked at Stark with a pretty high profile role at one of their plants, he was covered on their end as well."

"Helps that he was a model employee more or less," Harry stated. "Good thing they honored that and extended the benefits."

"And he has a fair amount of Stocks and shares in the company," May said. "But those are going to go to you, you know."

"Yes," Harry agreed in response. He bought a lot of stocks already in Stark and it made a killing. "But, you're set up for the rest of your life, so you don't need to worry about money."

May nodded. She hated to be the type of person who was fragile and just barely making it alone.

It wasn't really an issue since Lily signed her inheritance over to Harry. Rose had to get the power of attorney of the Potter vaults in the Wizarding World, and she had been taking money out of Gringotts, converting it, and investing it into companies. Harry got a good chunk of it but so did Rose given that she was doing the actual investing.

Removing the Potter gold from the Wizarding World also drove the value of the Galleon down. Well for humans anyway, the goblins would be alright. That world would have its own problems to deal with.

* * *

><p>Much to Gwen's glee, nothing happened that mandated her attention. Therefore, she met with Mary Jane and Liz. Betty Brant also joined them. She didn't have anything to do honestly, and she asked if she could come along after hearing Gwen and Mary Jane talk about it. They didn't see any reason why not to let her go.<p>

The girls stood in line at the bank. Liz needed to pick up some cash and the other girls thought that it was a pretty good idea as well.

There was one problem and that was that the ATM was busted. So they needed to get in line and stand, the bank was crowded as hell.

"So, how as your date with Peter?" Gwen asked.

"It was fine," Liz said. She seemed positively bored about the situation. "We went to a club, we had a little fun. Didn't have much of a chance to talk, because of the location and we weren't there very long."

"Why weren't you there for very long?" Mary Jane asked.

"Well, it's Peter's assistant, she called him, it was some urgent business that apparently couldn't wait," Liz replied crisply. It seemed like she was holding her tongue. "But I guess something did come up honestly. And he's more interesting than Flash."

"It's not that hard," Gwen added. "And his assistant called you away?"

"Yes, but I'm pretty sure that it was just business coming up," Liz replied. "We're going to have another date later on, although I'm not sure when. Could be something there, couldn't be."

Liz decided to switch topics.

"So, how are things going with you and Harry?" Liz asked. That caused MJ to flush a little bit and Betty looked on with interest.

"It's going pretty great,' Gwen said.

"Oh, that's good, and I was honestly surprised that you didn't jump him a long time ago," Liz commented. Mary Jane had to duck her head and hide the laughter she had.

Gwen wasn't able to get any more information other than that. Her spider sense started acting up. She was getting more used to it piping up at random intervals and also listening to what it was trying to tell her. It might as well have been screaming at her at full volume though.

She heard a high pitched whine. She instantly knew what happened. Gwen reacted quickly, tackling the three girls to the ground.

Seconds before she did this, the building exploded. She just made them get down on the ground in time.

"What happened?" Liz asked.

"Keep your head down," Gwen said. As a daughter of a cop, she had some good instincts beyond the spider sense blaring up. "Are all of you okay?"

All of them nodded in response. Gwen got up to her feet and turned around. She could see someone approaching from the shadows.

Her eyes strained when she looked from the dust. A large man dressed in a red and yellow suit that looked like a patchwork quilt entered the bank. He wore a pair of goggles over his face. He wore what looked to be a pair of bulky looking guns on his gauntlets. One might mistake them as some kind of high tech construction equipment. Which that's what it essentially was.

The one and only Herman Schultz stepped into the back. He pointed the guns up at the ceiling and fired them. The impact caused the building to shake. One could compare it to an Earthquake.

"That was your only warning," Herman growled. His eyes swept the bank without any humor in his gaze when he spoke. "Get out of the bank now!"

Pretty much everyone did what they were instructed. Herman watched. Finally, he had power, he had respect. It felt good to have both things because he completely lacked them in the past. The man watched everyone walk out.

It was good to be respected. He thought that his joy would burst over and go on through him.

There was always one security guard that decided to be the hero. He pointed the gun at Herman.

"And what are you going to do with that?" Herman asked. He raised his gun in the air. The sonic blast caused the security guard to whip backwards.

The guard cracked in the wall. He careened into it and was not without some severe injuries.

"Does anyone else want to try and do something stupid like be a hero?" he asked. His eyes swept around when he looked around. There was no one who was willing to try. "Excellent."

Mary Jane, Liz, and Betty scrambled out of the bank and to safety. Although to be fair, it Betty and Mary Jane's case, it was only to a safe enough distance.

There was a panicked scream that resounded as everyone went from the bank. Some had witnessed what happened to the security guard.

The girls realized Gwen got lost in the confusion. They really hoped that she was okay and not hurt, rather she just got separated.

* * *

><p>Gwen doubled back through the confusion caused by the people in the bank. They more or less stampeded out. That allowed Gwen a moment to slip into costume.<p>

The Spectacular Spider-Girl was on the scene. She slipped into the back and she stopped straight.

She was greeted with the sight of the villain using his shockers to blast the bank vault door off of it's hinges. He was going to load up big time with cash.

The moment he was able to unload the cash from the vault into his duffel bag, she was going to be right in position. The guard suffered severe injuries. She managed to get him out of harm's way, because things were going to get kind of rough.

Herman exited the bank vault, holding a duffel bag filled with cash. He stopped and came face to face with an interesting sight.

"Just who are you?" Herman asked.

"I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Girl!" she yelled. She thought that it might have sounded a bit too corny but it worked. "And you're just in for the ass kicking off your life."

"We'll see about that!" Herman yelled. He lifted his arm into the air. "Thought that you were some kind of myth, something that the Rhino said to save face for getting embarassed. But I guess that you're very real. But I'm the one who is going to take you out."

He blasted her with a sonic blast. She dodged out of the way. A desk was blown over when he connected.

Gwen realized she had to play this battle smartly. She was working with an arm that was still partially injured at the hands of Rhino. And he did have a bit of an advantage against her because of his weapons.

She aimed her webbing and used it to fling a chair. That caused him to misdirect his attacks. She tried to get in close to him.

He caused the floor to blow up beneath her. She scaled the debris and shot down a line of webbing. The glop of webbing connected with his glasses.

Herman cursed and tried to get the webbing off. Those bulky guns weren't exactly conductive to webbing.

"You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn door with those things!" Spider-Girl taunted him. She came down onto the top of his head. "A blind old lady has better aim than you do!"

He shot over her. That did the trick of causing another section of the ceiling to cave in.

Spider-Girl winced and managed to keep the roof from falling down onto her. Herman went for the duffel bag of money.

She shot a line of webbing towards the bag and yanked it out of the way. He cursed and blasted at her again.

The bag exploded and caused money to fly everywhere. Spider-Girl was already out of the way. She tried to web him to the ground.

His arm raised up and he blasted the desk she stood on. While she already got off of the desk, she was able to maintain her.

"You know after all of the pot shots you've taken from me, you'd think that you'd get closer to taking me out," she commented. She dodged another attack to attack her. He was destroying more furniture that he did her. "And you…..destroyed the money that you tried to steal. That was really smart of you….what are you calling yourself, Quilt Man? Because you look like you're wrapped in your grandmother's quilt."

"Shut your mouth, bitch!"

Gwen stopped and stared. She knew that force. It was a bit gruffer in an attempt to sound more macho. She would never forget a voice like that.

"Herman?" Spider-Girl asked suddenly. It all was coming back to her quickly now. "Herman Schultz!?"

"My name is Shocker!" he shouted.

That caused Gwen to snort. She barely managed to hold back her laughter. "Oh okay, whatever you say….Herman!"

That caused him to really get pissed off. He'd show her. She was going to learn respect even if he forced her to.

Herman, or Shocker rather, increased the power of his weapon. His next blast would show.

"I'll show you, bitch!" Shocker yelled. He blasted her when she was on the wall.

"Show me what?" Spider-Girl asked. She bounced off of the wall. She realized that the building was shaking badly around them.

She realized that the fun and games were over. He was blasting those things wildly.

'_Well, shit,' _she thought.

Walls, furniture, they were utterly destroyed. She dodged one of the attacks.

The attack struck into a support beam and caused a huge piece of the roof to hit her. She had to dodge another attack.

She winced, barely blocking out the pain. A huge chunk of the roof came flying down towards her. It connected with her arm hard and caused her to scream out in pain.

The pain allowed Herman to fire a shot at her. Her spider sense saw it coming but her pain sense was stronger.

Herman turned around, thinking that she had enough. The money was a lost issue but taking down that smug bitch was its own reward.

Gwen shut out the pain, biting down firmly on her lip. She struggled to stand, allowing a breath to escape her body.

She shot her webbing at the gun. The webbing splattered against the gun, covering it.

He didn't take too kindly to this. Shocker cranked up his other gun to eleven and blasted it.

The entire building came down hard on her. Shocker was already gone when Spider-Girl tried to dodge the falling debris before they came down onto her.

To add to the fun and games, the floor gave out beneath her.

There was one thing for sure and that was that Spider-Girl had just been defeated by Shocker!

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued On February 2<strong>**nd****, 2015. **


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen:**

* * *

><p>Harry and May returned from the will reading of Ben Parker and now were having lunch. There was some extremely interesting information that was revealed to them that they would need to take some time to digest that.<p>

May recalled the finer points of the will. The biggest point was that she was set up for life thanks to the contents of the will. As long as she lived within her means and not beyond them, she would be fine. May knew that she was not a woman that would live beyond her means, because that would be extremely foolhardy.

As for Harry, well thanks to the inheritance that he got through the Evans line and through a lesser extent, the Potters, he was always rich enough where he didn't have to work a day in his life, if he chose not to. He could really live off of things from both investments and the bank. But the thing was that May and Ben Parker instilled a pretty healthy work ethic from him at a very young age. He was someone who worked hard for everything he had and did not rest on the laurels of what he had before.

There was also a chance that he would just be bored if he didn't keep himself active for obvious reasons. Harry was the type of person that was not able to be idle and he was able to work on numerous projects.

"So, that's out of the way," May said. She decided to take a bite out of her sandwich and think about what happened.

"Was there a part of you that was dreading what you would learn about?" Harry asked her.

May shook her head in response. "I don't think that I was necessarily dreading it, but it's never a good thing to go to the will reading of someone close to you. It's just that final confirmation that he's gone and he's never coming back."

She allowed herself to sigh. The denial phase had long since passed her.

"I think that he would want us to remember all of the good times and move on with our lives," May answered. She smiled. "But, I suppose that he would say the same thing about me, if the situation was reversed."

"Do you hope so?" Harry asked her.

May nodded swiftly in response. "Yes, I hope so. But, we had this discussion before about what needed to be done if one of us passed. And Ben's compensation plan put me in a comfortable way."

"So, how are you really doing?" Harry asked.

May frowned and she looked at him. "Do you really want to know how I'm really doing?"

"The truth would be nice," Harry confirmed to her.

May took a moment to mull this over in her mind. The truth could be a rather frustrating thing, but she was dealing with it. "All things considered, I'm coping about as well as can be expected, I like my job for instance, and it keeps me really busy."

"That's great," Harry said. "Glad that you have something that's keeping your mind off of everything."

May agreed that she was glad. It was something that keeps her busy. "And I'm sure that you're doing just as well at OsCorp."

"The work is rather nice, and it does keep me busy," Harry answered her. He smiled, he did have a very productive work environment there.

"So, how are things between you and Gwen…"

May didn't have a chance to adequately ask the question and Harry didn't have a chance to adequately answer the question. He got a phone call and he saw that Liz was on the other end.

Harry figured that it was important and he could hear the panicking woman on the other end of the phone. She was babbling in her breath, attempting to tell him everything that has happened in one panicked breath.

Unfortunately for Harry, what she was trying to say was garbled and he couldn't understand her.

"Liz, Liz, please slow down," Harry told her. He spoke to her in a calm, but yet firm voice. When he was sure that he had her attention, he continued. "Just take a deep breath and explain to me one more time what you were trying to explain to me and do so slowly."

"Right, slowly," Liz agreed breathlessly. She was almost apologetic when she nearly choked on her tongue. "We were at the bank, trying to get some money out, and this guy arrived, he dressed in some kind of weird suit. He could cause vibrations and he was going to rob the bank. We got separated, and I think…..I think that Gwen might be missing."

Harry's expression grew grim. "What's your current location?"

"The Third National, right on the corner of Lee and Ditko," Liz informed him.

Once Harry got that location, he bounced up to his feet. He leaned forward and kissed May on the forehead.

"What….Harry?" May asked.

"No time to explain, an emergency has come up, and the girls might be in trouble."

That did explain more than enough and Harry was almost out of the door. She was flummoxed and by the time that she could respond with a "…What?!...wait, Harry!" he was completely gone.

* * *

><p>Your typical Russian Mobster, and a pretty grizzled one at that, sat in the front seat of a moving truck. The truck appeared to be buckling underneath the weight of something, something big and something heavier.<p>

There was another younger looking mobster in the passenger seat next to him and he was dressed smartly for success. He looked to be the one in charge, given the nature of how he was dressed. He turned to the mobster in the driver's seat of the truck.

"So, he thinks that he's pretty clever, doesn't he?" one of them asked in a gruff tone. "Just because he's hot shit and big shit, he thinks that he can screw up our shit. Well he's got another thing coming."

"Yeah, I agree with you," the young mobster said. He spoke slowly and deliberately, and his accent was a bit less obvious than the older mobster. "If the Big Man thinks that he can attack us without retaliation, especially after what happened in the shipping yard, we're going to prove how wrong he is."

Both of them listened to a police scanner, for any information that they might need to use for their schemes. The duo proceeded to pull up in front of a building. It looked to be abandoned on the outside of it.

From the inside though, things were completely different. There were a lot of people that were moving around and being productive inside.

"Here's the place, just as planned," one of the mobsters grunted.

"Yeah, one of the last places that anyone would expect anything to go down," another mobster said. "Which makes it perfect. That guy thinks he's really hot shit, well we're going to fuck up his shit if we have any say about it."

Their conversation wrapped to a conclusion. An ABA went out.

"Everyone be on alert for a dangerous suspect. This individual is wearing a mask and has attempted to rob the Third National Bank at the corner of Lee and Ditko. The suspect is suspected to be armed and extremely dangerous. Approach with caution, and beware of the weapon that he holds. Witness reports state that the weapon has been able to obliterate the entire wall of a bank. I repeat, witness reports state that the weapon has been able to obliterate the entire wall of a bank."

The better dressed man gave a nice grin. He turned himself around and banged on the metal divider between the cab and the storage area in the back. It slides open for a moment, although the person behind it wasn't visible.

"Da?" the voice asked in accented Russian.

The gangster responded in a gruff and business like tone of voice. "It's time."

There was a loud chuckle in response and then the diver slid shut. It was pretty obvious at this point that the something big that was in the big of the van was a someone and it was climbing off of the back of the van. It landed down onto the ground just like that with a loud thud and a crash.

A moment or two later, something stepped off of the van with a crash. It was obvious that whatever was weighing the van down had gotten off of it.

A large and imposing individual exited the back of the van in an extremely audible manner. Alexsei Sytsevich, better known as the Rhino, was off of the back of the van. He dressed in a thick grey body armor that resembled the skin of his namesake, the Rhino. He had a pointed horn that was presented for pain and misery. He was so heavy that he left a large crater in the midst of the ground where he landed.

He moved with slow strides and positioned himself in front of the entrance of the building. He got into a three point stance for a moment and then ran at full speed.

He plows right through the gate. The next thing he did was smash right through the entrance of the building itself.

The sound of gunfire followed next and there were all kinds of horrific violence that followed. The Rhino just got the ball rolling and everything descended into chaos and bloodshed afterwards.

* * *

><p>Gwen Stacy's life pretty much sucked right about now. That was on the account of a building having been dropped on her head partially by the Shocker.<p>

If there was one silver lining to this insanity was that the floor collapsed underneath her and she was sent crashing down into the basement. That wasn't the softest of landings, but it was rather preferable to get sandwiched within a tone of debris from the roof, along with most of the rest of the building crashing onto her head.

Not everything was sunshine and roses though. She groaned when the pain racked through her body. It was a rough landing and she did get clipped by some of it. Gwen ended up passing out and it was just now that she was slowly coming through.

There were a fair amount of debris that was strewn around her and Gwen was slowly returning herself back to life. There was a loud ringing that rattled in the back of her head.

'_Gwen?' _Harry asked. _'Gwen?'_

Gwen grumbled when she tried to get herself back up to her feet, but her head still throbbed extremely madly.

Harry yelling inside her head jerked her back to full consciousness.

'_Yes, Harry, I hear you, now could you please stop yelling in my head?' _Gwen asked. She closed her eyes and would shake her head if it didn't hurt to move. _'It's bad enough as it is.'_

'_What's your status, where are you?' _Harry asked her. He spoke a little bit softly in her head, which was something that Gwen appreciated.

'_I'm sore all over, my head and my arm are killing me,' _Gwen said. She painstakingly managed to push the debris off of her. Her healing factor didn't kick in soon enough and even if it did, it wasn't about to cancel out the pain that she had. _'It looks like that I fell into the basement.'_

There was a brief pause and Gwen thought that she blanked out or lost consciousness once again.

"I'm close enough to be in range of the bank right now," Harry informed her, after switching to the radio link. "Can you move or do I need to come and get you?"

Gwen didn't answer that question at first. She pushed herself up on her hands and knees successfully. With painstaking difficulty, Gwen managed to push herself out of the debris. Her breathing became labored when the blonde heroine pulled herself back up to her feet.

The moment that she got to her feet, she nearly collapsed down.

"I'm clear of the floor, will let you know….oooh, in a moment," Gwen groaned. She took stock of the situation at hand.

She was attacked by Herman Schultz, who was now calling himself the Shocker. That name of all names caused Gwen to snort in amusement. The web spinning heroine thought that she had a dirty mind and might be in need of help.

Harry pretty much caught up with her imagery and frowned. _'You have a dirty mind, but if you really want, we can try that later.'_

'_Maybe,' _Gwen suggested. She closed her eyes and got to her feet.

She figured out the problem. Her head hurt like hell, which was a given. The lucky thing was that she didn't have a concussion. She wrapped her arm up with her webbing in an attempt to keep it from being jostled too much.

"So, you just said that Schultz is running around calling himself the Shocker," Harry informed Gwen.

"Yeah, that's what I said, pretty stupid all things considered," Gwen said. "He's using some kind of sonic gun. I'm not sure what kind it is, but there's a whine when it's fired. And following the whine, it causes pretty much whatever that's in this path crumpled inwards. It's pretty much blown backwards from the point of impact."

Harry thought about things, before he had an answer. "It seems like the portable Sonic Drill that Hamer Industries was working on. It's pretty solid construction wise for something made by Hammer."

"Oh, and how do you suppose that I stop this?" Gwen asked. Now that she had a chance to walk off her pain, she felt a little bit better, although she'd be lying if she said that she was one hundred percent already.

"It's pretty solid construction wise, but it has a notable flaw within it," Harry told Gwen. She indicated that she was all ears. "It's got overheating problems and needs to vent. So if you can't yank it off of his hands, maybe you can exploit that to your advantage that way."

Gwen nodded. That made a perfect amount of sense. "Right, that seems to be a good idea, I'll get right on that."

There was only one problem and that was that she needed to find a way out of the basement first. That could be a bit of an issue. Now that she shook off the cobwebs, it was time for her to head back into the saddle.

* * *

><p>One could get the NYPD credit for getting right to the scene of the robbery as soon as possible. The fact that this mysterious masked felon was going head to head with the mysterious spider like vigilante only gave them more time to mobilize. While there were mixed opinions about how good this person was being involved, one thing was for certain that she did give them the opportunity to mobilize.<p>

A fair number of cops surrounded the entrance and there was the same amount of cops that moved into cover behind said cars. There was a crowd gathering in the background, despite the attempts of crowd control by the police.

Among the group was the trio of Mary Jane, Betty, and Liz, who were all in various states of shock, even though they were trying to keep it together. Liz freaked out about the fact that Gwen was out of action, although thankfully she didn't freak out as much since Harry had an opportunity to calm her down.

The stand-off between the Cops and the Robber was about to ensue. The cops tried to get in close to him.

"Put your weapons on the ground and get on your hands and knees!" one of them shouted boldly.

Shocker lifted his arm and sent an attack with his sonic drill towards one of the police cars. The impact caused the car to crumple inwards and then flip backwards in the direction of the crowd.

There were several screams of terror, followed by the crowd scrambling. Cars and other debris flew everywhere. People were in a nasty state of panic, because they were likely to explode if they hit the right spot.

He sent another car flying up into the ground and added to the chaos.

Betty managed to ease herself into a mostly safe spot and watch things eagerly. She took some careful notes with her phone. Mary Jane crouched down, a bit out of sight, but snapping photos. Liz took a position behind a lamp post.

Murphy decided to rear his ugly head today, when one of the cars was sent flipping at the girls. There was not an opportunity to move and in fact, the girls saw their entire lives about ready to flash before them.

At the last possible second, Spider-Girl showed up and webbed the car in such a way that it stopped hitting the girls. She launched the car into the direction of the Shocker.

Shocker's eyes widened in absolute surprise and he used his shock gun to avoid the car from crushing him. He looked up, with his beady little eyes, and his mouth hung a gap. He finally found his voice after a moment. "You again? I thought I crushed you!"

"Well, you should have checked to make sure of that, genius," Spider-Girl said. She dropped down to the ground and began to fight him.

Thankfully, he was down to only one of his Shockers, due to the fact that it was webbed up tightly earlier. Gwen bobbed, ducked, and weaved around the attacks.

She listened and it was just like Harry said. One of the shock guns was starting to hiss.

"Son of a bitch, what the hell is wrong with you, you stupid fucking thing!" Shocker cursed. There was a delay between him pulling the trigger and when it fired.

"Ah, Herman, what's the matter, having performance issues?" Spider-Girl taunted him. "I don't doubt that's anything new for you."

"You bitch, you just wait…"

Gwen took advantage of the latest delay, by webbing the shot gun up. Herman tried to free his hand from the shock gun, but he couldn't. There was a loud bang that echoed.

Spider-Girl slid down to the ground and fired a web line around his ankles. Shocker screamed when he was hauled upside down, hanging from the lamp post.

He struggled when Spider-Girl took off. He cursed her. "How could you leave me like this…again!"

Shocker was beginning to get dizzy from being hung upside down. The only thing that completely distracted him from that was the stabbing pain that escalated through his hand.

* * *

><p>A couple of moments later, MJ, Betty, and Liz realized that the situation was more or less resolved, and now that they could look for Gwen.<p>

"Looking for me?"

The trio of girls spun around and saw Gwen approach and she had the one and only Harry Evans-Parker in toe.

"What happened to you?" Liz asked. She was too shocked to move, but at the same time, she was really glad that Gwen was there and fine.

"I was separated from them in the chaos, and I ended up in a different part of the crowd," Gwen explained to them. "And that's where Harry showed up and found me and…"

Gwen was caught off guard by all of the girls wrapping her up in a tight hug. It was a good thing that Harry gave her something to ease the pain, because otherwise this happy action of reunion would hurt like a bitch.

* * *

><p>"This is the story of the year, the story of the century, the STORY OF THE MILLENIUM!" J. Jonah Jameson ranted in the middle of his office at the Daily Bugle. His latest audience was the duel of Fredrick Foswell and Eddie Brock. "Not counting the fact that Tony Stark came out as Iron Man, I always thought that there was something really off about that guy, but that's beside the point. This is the point."<p>

Jameson broke his large rant for a second to catch his breath.

"This is the biggest story all year at least, and you weren't able to get me anything to go on," Jameson said. He placed his hands firmly upon the desk and leaned back with a pair of big old bug eyes. "I wanted something to go on. I wanted photos….I WANTED PHOTOS! I wanted photos of this Spider Person. I cannot print one word of any story without photos."

Jameson got up off of his desk and got into the face of one Eddie Brock.

"Why weren't you able to get me photos, Brock?" Jameson asked.

"Well, it was too dangerous, Mr. Jameson, sir," Eddie Brock replied in his usual silky voice.

Jameson scoffed at that in response. "Bah, back in my day, we would get in there and get things done, no matter how dangerous the situation was. Reporters were fearless, their lives were only secondary, and photographers stepped in the middle of war zones. They didn't worry about getting shot, the only shot that mattered was a good photo, one that can be put on the front page and can drag in the eyeballs."

Jameson took a breath and continued to stare down at Brock.

"And what do you bring back to me?" Jameson asked. He was a bit calm, but the changed in a moment. "You brought me back diddly, nothing, squat, not even a blurry image. What good are you anyway? What am I even paying you for Brock? All you seem to do is sit there ,with your thumb stuck up your ass and complain about how it's dangerous. Well, if you won't get the photo, if you're too scared about danger, then someone else will do it, despite the risk."

It was during this point of his conversation that Mary Jane and Betty entered the office.

"I have photos of, her, sir," Mary Jane said.

Jameson's eyes snapped over towards the redhead. Betty decided to add something. "And we were both there during the scene of the crime and I've got a story for you, and even a title in mind for the front page."

His face spread with a gleeful grin that was almost terrifying. "Well, don't just leave me hanging!"

"The Spectacular Spider-Girl!" Betty said, in an overly dramatic tone. It did roll of the tongue, she had to admit that.

"Not bad, it will do, better than the nothing that I was brought by other people," Jameson said. He looked over the photos with an increasingly critical eye. "Yes, that will have to do, we can run this."

J. Jonah Jameson looked as giddy as a school girl, which was a terrifying image to say the least.

* * *

><p><strong>To Be Continued On February 7<strong>**th****, 2015. **


End file.
